Z S's List: Optogenetics

• light-sensitive proteins called channelrhodopsins
• can be targeted to specific cells, so that their activity can be controlled by light
• Stanford University
• manipulate complex reward-related behaviour
• Karl Deisseroth
• they manipulated the learning behaviour of mice using chimeric α₁- and β₂-adrenoceptors
• replaced the neurotransmitter binding site with the light-sensitive part of rhodopsin
• the researchers did not reward the mice with food pellets
• they used pulses of light
• biochemical signalling pathways which would normally be initiated when the animals are given a real reward
• replace a real reward
• deep brain stimulation (DBS)
• Parkinson's Disease, the movement disorder associated with degeneration of dopamine-producing neurons in the midbrain
• mice lacking dopaminergic neurons
• enters neurons via the dopamine and noradrenaline reuptake transporters, and therefore selectively destroys cells which synthesize these neurotransmitters
• destroyed with 6-hydroxydopamine, a neurotoxin
• deficits in the limbs on the left side of their body
• display rightward rotations when they move

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• $14.9M of federal funding towards optogenetics research
• respective light-sensitive genes
• Optogenetic signals are highly discriminant, unlike current deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapies
• play a role in Parkinson’s, blindness, spinal injury, narcolepsy, addiction, and memory.

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• The genetics part of optogenetics utilizes simple virus carrier systems to deliver genes to the brain. 
• opsin. 

• Method of the Year
• The technology is now in use in at least 800 labs worldwide, and scientists come from around the globe for training sessions hosted on a regular basis in a dedicated facility near Deisseroth’s laboratory at Stanford.

• 1971 when a light activated protein called bacteriorhodopsin
• electrodes or drugs to stimulate specific areas. These are not very accurate
• very slow acting
• specificity of optogenetics was shown in an experiment on sleep patterns in mice
• help rouse sleeping animals.
• researchers are using it in a variety of organs and cell types
• applications beyond neuroscience
• ETH Zurich described their use of optogenetics to regulate blood sugar in mice
• inserted a light activated protein into human kidney cells

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