Three technologies have emerged as therapies to restore light sensing to profoundly blind patients suffering from late-stage retinal degenerations: (1) retinal prosthetics, (2) optogenetics, and (3) chemical photoswitches. Prosthetics are the most mature and the only approach in clinical practice. Prosthetic implants require complex surgical intervention and provide only limited visual resoluti...

L ight plays a key role in the living world. It serves as a source of energy through photosynthesis, makes sight possible, and regulates circadian rhythms. During evolution, organisms from bacteria to higher mammals elaborate various mechanisms to sense and respond to light, which manipulates their behavior. The use of light as a trigger is particularly attractive as a means of controlling biol...

Molecular switches have long been investigated aiming at developing sustainable and renewable energy-based technologies. Among molecular photoswitches, azobenzene (AB) has the quintessential template for solar–thermal fuels (STFs), acting as “molecular batteries”, storing discharging energy by converting between its trans- cis-isomers upon absorption of UV light. Nevertheless, key properties de...

Native, self-assembling nucleic acid nanomachines that can walk, move, or rotate have been developed. Owing to their ability to form diverse secondary structures, for example, by the highly sequence-specific hybridization of complementary sequences, the hybridization of DNA and RNA through Watson–Crick H bonds, and the assembly of triplexes through Hoogsteen bonds, nucleic acids are ideal build...

Mammalian neurotransmitter-gated receptors can be conjugated to photoswitchable tethered ligands (PTLs) to enable photoactivation, or photoantagonism, while preserving normal function at neuronal synapses. "MAG" PTLs for ionotropic and metabotropic glutamate receptors (GluRs) are based on an azobenzene photoswitch that is optimally switched into the liganding state by blue or near-UV light, wav...

The field of photopharmacology aims to introduce smart drugs that, through the incorporation of molecular photoswitches, allow for the remote spatial and temporal control of bioactivity by light. This concept could be particularly beneficial in the treatment of bacterial infections, by reducing the systemic and environmental side effects of antibiotics. A major concern in the realization of suc...

G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling occurs in complex spatiotemporal patterns that are difficult to probe using standard pharmacological and genetic approaches. A powerful approach for dissecting GPCRs is to use light-controlled pharmacological agents that are tethered covalently and specifically to genetically engineered receptors. However, deficits in our understanding of the mechanis...

The duplex-forming activities of oligonucleotides can be photomodulated by incorporation of an azobenzene unit. Upon isomerizing the trans-azobenzene to the cis form by irradiation with UV light, the T(m) value of the duplex (with the complementary DNA) is lowered so that the duplex is dissociated. The duplex is formed again when the cis-azobenzene is converted to the trans-azobenzene by irradi...