All-optical regulation of gene expression in targeted cells

Controllable gene expression is always a challenge and of great significance to biomedical research and clinical applications. Recently, various approaches based on extra-engineered light-sensitive proteins have been developed to provide optogenetic actuators for gene expression. Complicated biomedical techniques including exogenous genes engineering, transfection, and material delivery are needed. Here we present an all-optical method to regulate gene expression in targeted cells. Intrinsic or exogenous genes can be activated by a Ca(2+)-sensitive transcription factor nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) driven by a short flash of femtosecond-laser irradiation. When applied to mesenchymal stem cells, expression of a differentiation regulator Osterix can be activated by this method to potentially induce differentiation of them. A laser-induced “Ca(2+)-comb” (LiCCo) by multi-time laser exposure is further developed to enhance gene expression efficiency. This noninvasive method hence provides an encouraging advance of gene expression regulation, with promising potential of applying in cell biology and stem-cell science.