Optogenetics

Optogenetics is a biological technique to control the activity of neurons or other cell types with light. This is achieved by expression of light-sensitive ion channels, pumps or enzymes specifically in the target cells. On the level of individual cells, light-activated enzymes and transcription factors allow precise control of biochemical signaling pathways.[1] In systems neuroscience, the ability to control the activity of a genetically defined set of neurons has been used to understand their contribution to decision making,[2] learning,[3] fear memory,[4] mating,[5] addiction,[6] feeding,[7] and locomotion.[8] In a first medical application of optogenetic technology, vision was partially restored in a blind patient with Retinitis pigmentosa.[9]

Optogenetic techniques have also been introduced to map the functional connectivity of the brain.[10][11] By altering the activity of genetically labelled neurons with light and by using imaging and electrophysiology techniques to record the activity of other cells, researchers can identify the statistical dependencies between cells and brain regions.[12][13]

In a broader sense, the field of optogenetics also includes methods to record cellular activity with genetically encoded indicators.

In 2010, optogenetics was chosen as the "Method of the Year" across all fields of science and engineering by the interdisciplinary research journal Nature Methods.[14] In the same year an article on "Breakthroughs of the Decade" in the academic research journal Science highlighted optogenetics.[15][16][17]

  1. ^ Shimizu-Sato S, Huq E, Tepperman JM, Quail PH (October 2002). "A light-switchable gene promoter system". Nature Biotechnology. 20 (10): 1041–1044. doi:10.1038/nbt734. PMID 12219076. S2CID 24914960.
  2. ^ Guo ZV, Li N, Huber D, Ophir E, Gutnisky D, Ting JT, et al. (January 2014). "Flow of cortical activity underlying a tactile decision in mice". Neuron. 81 (1): 179–194. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2013.10.020. PMC 3984938. PMID 24361077.
  3. ^ Lak A, Okun M, Moss MM, Gurnani H, Farrell K, Wells MJ, et al. (February 2020). "Dopaminergic and Prefrontal Basis of Learning from Sensory Confidence and Reward Value". Neuron. 105 (4): 700–711.e6. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2019.11.018. PMC 7031700. PMID 31859030.
  4. ^ Liu X, Ramirez S, Pang PT, Puryear CB, Govindarajan A, Deisseroth K, Tonegawa S (March 2012). "Optogenetic stimulation of a hippocampal engram activates fear memory recall". Nature. 484 (7394): 381–385. Bibcode:2012Natur.484..381L. doi:10.1038/nature11028. PMC 3331914. PMID 22441246.
  5. ^ Tanaka R, Higuchi T, Kohatsu S, Sato K, Yamamoto D (November 2017). "Optogenetic Activation of the fruitless-Labeled Circuitry in Drosophila subobscura Males Induces Mating Motor Acts". The Journal of Neuroscience. 37 (48): 11662–11674. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1943-17.2017. PMC 6705751. PMID 29109241.
  6. ^ Stamatakis AM, Stuber GD (November 2012). "Optogenetic strategies to dissect the neural circuits that underlie reward and addiction". Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine. 2 (11): a011924. doi:10.1101/cshperspect.a011924. PMC 3543095. PMID 23043156.
  7. ^ Musso, Pierre-Yves; Junca, Pierre; Jelen, Meghan; Feldman-Kiss, Damian; Zhang, Han; Chan, Rachel CW; Gordon, Michael D (2019-07-19). Ramaswami, Mani; Dulac, Catherine (eds.). "Closed-loop optogenetic activation of peripheral or central neurons modulates feeding in freely moving Drosophila". eLife. 8: e45636. doi:10.7554/eLife.45636. ISSN 2050-084X. PMC 6668987. PMID 31322499.
  8. ^ Feng, Kai; Sen, Rajyashree; Minegishi, Ryo; Dübbert, Michael; Bockemühl, Till; Büschges, Ansgar; Dickson, Barry J. (2020-12-02). "Distributed control of motor circuits for backward walking in Drosophila". Nature Communications. 11 (1): 6166. Bibcode:2020NatCo..11.6166F. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-19936-x. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 7710706. PMID 33268800. S2CID 227255627.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference :13 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Lim, Diana; LeDue, Jeffrey; Mohajerani, Majid; Vanni, Matthieu; Murphy, Timothy (2013). "Optogenetic approaches for functional mouse brain mapping". Frontiers in Neuroscience. 7: 54. doi:10.3389/fnins.2013.00054. ISSN 1662-453X. PMC 3622058. PMID 23596383.
  11. ^ Lee, Candice; Lavoie, Andreanne; Liu, Jiashu; Chen, Simon X.; Liu, Bao-hua (2020). "Light Up the Brain: The Application of Optogenetics in Cell-Type Specific Dissection of Mouse Brain Circuits". Frontiers in Neural Circuits. 14: 18. doi:10.3389/fncir.2020.00018. ISSN 1662-5110. PMC 7193678. PMID 32390806.
  12. ^ Franconville, Romain; Beron, Celia; Jayaraman, Vivek (2018-08-20). VijayRaghavan, K; Scott, Kristin; Heinze, Stanley (eds.). "Building a functional connectome of the Drosophila central complex". eLife. 7: e37017. doi:10.7554/eLife.37017. ISSN 2050-084X. PMC 6150698. PMID 30124430.
  13. ^ Chen, Chenghao; Agrawal, Sweta; Mark, Brandon; Mamiya, Akira; Sustar, Anne; Phelps, Jasper S.; Lee, Wei-Chung Allen; Dickson, Barry J.; Card, Gwyneth M.; Tuthill, John C. (2021-12-06). "Functional architecture of neural circuits for leg proprioception in Drosophila". Current Biology. 31 (23): 5163–5175.e7. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2021.09.035. ISSN 0960-9822. PMC 8665017. PMID 34637749.
  14. ^ Primer on Optogenetics: Pastrana E (2010). "Optogenetics: Controlling cell function with light". Nature Methods. 8 (1): 24–25. doi:10.1038/nmeth.f.323. S2CID 5808517.
    Editorial: "Method of the Year 2010". Nature Methods. 8 (1): 1. 2010. doi:10.1038/nmeth.f.321.
    Commentary: Deisseroth K (January 2011). "Optogenetics". Nature Methods. 8 (1): 26–29. doi:10.1038/nmeth.f.324. PMC 6814250. PMID 21191368.
  15. ^ News Staff (December 2010). "Insights of the decade. Stepping away from the trees for a look at the forest. Introduction". Science. 330 (6011): 1612–1613. Bibcode:2010Sci...330.1612.. doi:10.1126/science.330.6011.1612. PMID 21163985. S2CID 206593135.
  16. ^ "Method of the Year 2010: Optogenetics". Nature Video. 17 December 2010.
  17. ^ Deisseroth K (20 October 2010). "Optogenetics: Controlling the Brain with Light". Scientific American. Springer Nature America, Inc.