Optogenetics with Fast-Flim and Evanescent patteRning – OFFER

Live imaging and biosensors allowed to quantify a biological activity at subcellular level. The recent development of optogenetics goes beyond this descriptive methodology by allowing perturbative approaches with live imaging. Optogenetics is using natural genetically encoded photosensitive elements to control a biological activity. High sensitivity of natural photosensitive elements allowed to activate most optogenetic probes with most commercially available light sources. However, optogenetics activation presents spatio-temporal and spectral combination limitations. We propose to build the first dedicated microscope set-up which overcomes optogenetic limitations at subcellular level. Thus, we will integrate two new patented technologies into a TIRF microscope in order to improve the spatial resolution of optogenetic activations at the sub cellular level and to combine them easily with multispectral imaging, FRET biosensors and other probes.