Figure 1.

Photoactivation of YAP

(A) Schematics of optoYAP. OptoYAP is composed of the optoNLS with a caged lysine and two GFP prepended to YAP Ser127Ala. The optoNLS is activated by uncaging the lysine with light leading to nuclear localization of optoYAP followed by enhanced proliferation in the photo-activated area.

(B) HeLa cells transfected with optoYAP show YAP localization in the cytosol before activation. Approximately 30 min after photoactivation, optoYAP is localized in the nucleus. Scale bar = 30 μm.

(C) qPCR shows an increase in RNA levels of YAP downstream proteins CTGF and CYR61 (with GAPDH as gatekeeper).

(D) Yap functionality assay based on a TEAD luciferase reporter shows four times higher activity in activated samples compared to controls, which were not activated, confirming increased YAP activity. Data in (C) and (D) are represented as mean +/− standard deviation.

See also related Figures S1–S7