Optogenetics—the ability to use light to manipulate the activity of neurons with genetically expressed light sensitive ion channels—is a powerful technique for mapping neural circuits and determining the roles populations of neurons play in a variety of behaviors. To understand the subcellular, molecular basis of brain function, however, requires the manipulation of natively expressed signaling proteins. A few years ago, BRAIN Initiative grantee Dr. Ehud Isacoff 
and his UC Berkeley colleagues developed a series of light-activated glutamate receptors (LiGluR). The researchers describe in a recent Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience paper how they have further engineered their LiGluRs based on known properties of glutamate receptor function to make designer variants for specific functions. In addition, the new paper reports the first in vivo use of the LiGluRs, which they demonstrated in mice.
Read more from NIH BRAIN Update | February 22nd, 2016: https://braininitiative.nih.gov/news-events/blog/nih-brain-initiative-publication-roundup-late-february-2016