In addition to simple on/off switches for molecular activity, spatiotemporal dynamics are also thought to be important for the regulation of cellular function. However, their physiological significance and in vivo importance remain largely unknown. Fluorescence imaging technology is a powerful technique that can reveal the spatiotemporal dynamics of molecular activity. In addition, because imaging detects the correlations between molecular activity and biological phenomena, the technique of molecular manipulation is also important to analyze causal relationships. Recent advances in optical manipulation techniques that artificially perturb molecules and cells via light can address this issue to elucidate the causality between manipulated target and its physiological function. The use of light enables the manipulation of molecular activity in microspaces, such as organelles and nerve spines. In this review, we describe the chromophore-assisted light inactivation method, which is an optical manipulation technique that has been attracting attention in recent years.

除了分子活动的简单开关之外，时空动力学也被认为对于细胞功能的调节很重要。然而，它们的生理意义和体内重要性仍然很大程度上未知。荧光成像技术是一种强大的技术，可以揭示分子活动的时空动态。此外，由于成像检测分子活动与生物现象之间的相关性，因此分子操纵技术对于分析因果关系也很重要。通过光人为扰乱分子和细胞的光学操纵技术的最新进展可以解决这个问题，以阐明操纵目标与其生理功能之间的因果关系。利用光可以操纵微空间中的分子活动，例如细胞器和神经棘。在这篇综述中，我们描述了发色团辅助光灭活方法，这是近年来备受关注的光学操纵技术。