Prof. Alexander Heckel


Triggers and Switches for Chemical Biology



Our work focusses on engineering new properties into nucleic acids and other molecules. In
particular we introduce modifications that make it possible to control nucleic acid or small
molecule function with light. Light is an ideal addressing mechanism since it can be generated and
applied easily. In most cases it is a highly specific and harmless signal since only very few
specialized cells react to light themselves and the wavelengths can be chosen so that unwanted
phototoxic side effects can be avoided. We have for example shown that RNA interference can be
controlled with light. Using light-responsive aptamers protein function can be controlled as well.
Using caged small molecules it is possible to control ribozymes with light and arrange proteins in
arbitrary fashion. With wavelength-selective uncaging complex trigger scenarios become possible. In
our most recent endeavors we are trying to generate a riboswitch which accepts light as a signal,
we are triggering nucleic acid activity with three-dimensional resolution, we are investigating
tools for the light-control of miRNA activity and we are investigating tools for the
single-molecule real-time tracking of RNA trafficking in living cells.