Patent ID: 9453215
Filing Date: 2016-09-27
CPC Classification: A61B,A61K,A61N,A61P,C07K,C12N,G01N

Claim Text:
1. A method for generating secondary messengers in a cell, the method comprising: a) expressing in the cell a chimeric light-responsive fusion protein comprising a light-responsive rhodopsin-based membrane protein and a heterologous alpha-1 adrenergic receptor, wherein said expression provides for production of a secondary messenger in response to light, and wherein the chimeric light-responsive fusion protein comprises an amino acid sequence having at least 85% amino acid sequence identity to the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:4, wherein the cell expresses a secondary messenger-targeted cation channel that is responsive to the secondary messenger; and b) stimulating the chimeric light-responsive fusion protein with light, thereby generating the secondary messenger in the cell.