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A Novel Research Technology to Explore the Mystery of Traditional Chinese Medicine: Optogenetics. EVIDENCE-BASED COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE 2021. [DOI: 10.1155/2021/6613368] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is gaining increasing popularity worldwide for the function of health promotion and adjuvant therapy. However, the world's understanding of TCM is far from enough, which seriously limits the modernization and internationalization of TCM. Therefore, modern and efficient analytical methods are urgently needed to understand the mechanism of TCM. Optogenetics is one of the most prevalent technologies in the 21st century and has been used to explore life science, especially neuroscience. It already has had great influences in the study of neural circuits and animal models of mental diseases and was named “Method of the Year” by the Nature Methods journal in 2010. Increased interests occurred in the applications of optogenetics to explore a myriad of medical and mental health disorders. However, it has not so far been noticed by TCM researchers. We elaborated on an idea that introducing this technique into the field of TCM research to improve diagnosis, treatments, and evaluating the therapeutic effects. In this review, we made a systematic prospect in the theory, feasibility, and application of TCM optogenetics. We mainly focused on applying optogenetic methodologies to make a more comprehensive understanding of TCM.
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Yamanashi T, Maki M, Kojima K, Shibukawa A, Tsukamoto T, Chowdhury S, Yamanaka A, Takagi S, Sudo Y. Quantitation of the neural silencing activity of anion channelrhodopsins in Caenorhabditis elegans and their applicability for long-term illumination. Sci Rep 2019; 9:7863. [PMID: 31133660 PMCID: PMC6536681 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-44308-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2019] [Accepted: 05/14/2019] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Ion pumps and channels are responsible for a wide variety of biological functions. Ion pumps transport only one ion during each stimulus-dependent reaction cycle, whereas ion channels conduct a large number of ions during each cycle. Ion pumping rhodopsins such as archaerhodopsin-3 (Arch) are often utilized as light-dependent neural silencers in animals, but they require a high-density light illumination of around 1 mW/mm2. Recently, anion channelrhodopsins -1 and -2 (GtACR1 and GtACR2) were discovered as light-gated anion channels from the cryptophyte algae Guillardia theta. GtACRs are therefore expected to silence neural activity much more efficiently than Arch. In this study, we successfully expressed GtACRs in neurons of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) and quantitatively evaluated how potently GtACRs can silence neurons in freely moving C. elegans. The results showed that the light intensity required for GtACRs to cause locomotion paralysis was around 1 µW/mm2, which is three orders of magnitude smaller than the light intensity required for Arch. As attractive features, GtACRs are less harmfulness to worms and allow stable neural silencing effects under long-term illumination. Our findings thus demonstrate that GtACRs possess a hypersensitive neural silencing activity in C. elegans and are promising tools for long-term neural silencing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taro Yamanashi
- Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama, 700-8530, Japan
| | - Misayo Maki
- Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama, 700-8530, Japan
| | - Keiichi Kojima
- Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama, 700-8530, Japan
| | - Atsushi Shibukawa
- Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama, 700-8530, Japan
| | - Takashi Tsukamoto
- Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama, 700-8530, Japan.,Faculty of Advanced Life Science and Global Station for Soft Matter, Global Institution for Collaborative Research and Education, Hokkaido University, Kita-10 Nishi-8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan
| | - Srikanta Chowdhury
- Department of Neuroscience II, Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Nagoya University, Nagoya, 464-8601, Japan
| | - Akihiro Yamanaka
- Department of Neuroscience II, Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Nagoya University, Nagoya, 464-8601, Japan
| | - Shin Takagi
- Division of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya, 464-8602, Japan
| | - Yuki Sudo
- Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama, 700-8530, Japan.
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Munshi R, Qadri SM, Pralle A. Transient Magnetothermal Neuronal Silencing Using the Chloride Channel Anoctamin 1 (TMEM16A). Front Neurosci 2018; 12:560. [PMID: 30154692 PMCID: PMC6103273 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2018.00560] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2018] [Accepted: 07/25/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Determining the role and necessity of specific neurons in a network calls for precisely timed, reversible removal of these neurons from the circuit via remotely triggered transient silencing. Previously, we have shown that alternating magnetic field mediated heating of magnetic nanoparticles, bound to neurons, expressing temperature-sensitive cation channels TRPV1 remotely activates these neurons, evoking behavioral responses in mice. Here, we demonstrate how to apply magnetic nanoparticle heating to silence target neurons. Rat hippocampal neuronal cultures were transfected to express the temperature gated chloride channel, anoctamin 1 (TMEM16A). Spontaneous firing was suppressed within seconds of alternating magnetic field application to anoctamin 1 (TMEM16A) channel expressing, magnetic nanoparticle decorated neurons. Five seconds of magnetic field application leads to 12 s of silencing, with a latency of 2 s and an average suppression ratio of more than 80%. Immediately following the silencing period spontaneous activity resumed. The method provides a promising avenue for tether free, remote, transient neuronal silencing in vivo for both scientific and therapeutic applications.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Arnd Pralle
- Department of Physics, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, United States
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Optical silencing of body wall muscles induces pumping inhibition in Caenorhabditis elegans. PLoS Genet 2017; 13:e1007134. [PMID: 29281635 PMCID: PMC5760098 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1007134] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2017] [Revised: 01/09/2018] [Accepted: 11/28/2017] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Feeding, a vital behavior in animals, is modulated depending on internal and external factors. In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, the feeding organ called the pharynx ingests food by pumping driven by the pharyngeal muscles. Here we report that optical silencing of the body wall muscles, which drive the locomotory movement of worms, affects pumping. In worms expressing the Arch proton pump or the ACR2 anion channel in the body wall muscle cells, the pumping rate decreases after activation of Arch or ACR2 with light illumination, and recovers gradually after terminating illumination. Pumping was similarly inhibited by illumination in locomotion-defective mutants carrying Arch, suggesting that perturbation of locomotory movement is not critical for pumping inhibition. Analysis of mutants and cell ablation experiments showed that the signals mediating the pumping inhibition response triggered by activation of Arch with weak light are transferred mainly through two pathways: one involving gap junction-dependent mechanisms through pharyngeal I1 neurons, which mediate fast signals, and the other involving dense-core vesicle-dependent mechanisms, which mediate slow signals. Activation of Arch with strong light inhibited pumping strongly in a manner that does not rely on either gap junction-dependent or dense-core vesicle-dependent mechanisms. Our study revealed a new aspect of the neural and neuroendocrine controls of pumping initiated from the body wall muscles. Since feeding is an essential behavior for the survival of animals, it is modulated by a variety of neural and neuroendocrine signals that are generated depending on internal and external conditions. To elucidate the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of feeding, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, which is composed of a small number of identifiable cells, provides a unique system. In C. elegans, the pumping movement of a feeding organ called the pharynx has been subjected to intensive genetic studies. Compared to the factors promoting pumping, however, the inhibitory mechanisms of pumping are less well understood. In this paper, we report that optogenetic silencing of the body wall muscles, which drive the locomotory movement of worms, inhibits pumping in the pharynx. Signals emanating from muscles are likely to trigger pumping inhibition, raising an interesting possibility that the proprioceptive sense detecting the relaxation of body wall muscles might be involved. When the Arch proton pump was activated with weak light, signals for pumping inhibition are transferred into the pharynx mainly through two pathways: one involving gap junction-dependent mechanisms through pharyngeal I1 neurons, which mediate fast signals, and the other involving dense-core vesicle-dependent mechanisms, which mediate slow signals. Strong activation of Arch inhibits pumping very strongly via other mechanisms. Thus, we have revealed a new link between pumping and the body wall muscles, and confirmed the important cooperation of neural and neuroendocrine circuits in the regulation of feeding behaviors.
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Tsukamoto T, Mizutani K, Hasegawa T, Takahashi M, Honda N, Hashimoto N, Shimono K, Yamashita K, Yamamoto M, Miyauchi S, Takagi S, Hayashi S, Murata T, Sudo Y. X-ray Crystallographic Structure of Thermophilic Rhodopsin: IMPLICATIONS FOR HIGH THERMAL STABILITY AND OPTOGENETIC FUNCTION. J Biol Chem 2016; 291:12223-32. [PMID: 27129243 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m116.719815] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2016] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Thermophilic rhodopsin (TR) is a photoreceptor protein with an extremely high thermal stability and the first characterized light-driven electrogenic proton pump derived from the extreme thermophile Thermus thermophilus JL-18. In this study, we confirmed its high thermal stability compared with other microbial rhodopsins and also report the potential availability of TR for optogenetics as a light-induced neural silencer. The x-ray crystal structure of TR revealed that its overall structure is quite similar to that of xanthorhodopsin, including the presence of a putative binding site for a carotenoid antenna; but several distinct structural characteristics of TR, including a decreased surface charge and a larger number of hydrophobic residues and aromatic-aromatic interactions, were also clarified. Based on the crystal structure, the structural changes of TR upon thermal stimulation were investigated by molecular dynamics simulations. The simulations revealed the presence of a thermally induced structural substate in which an increase of hydrophobic interactions in the extracellular domain, the movement of extracellular domains, the formation of a hydrogen bond, and the tilting of transmembrane helices were observed. From the computational and mutational analysis, we propose that an extracellular LPGG motif between helices F and G plays an important role in the thermal stability, acting as a "thermal sensor." These findings will be valuable for understanding retinal proteins with regard to high protein stability and high optogenetic performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takashi Tsukamoto
- From the Division of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama 700-8530, Japan
| | - Kenji Mizutani
- the Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Chiba University, Chiba 263-8522, Japan, the Molecular Chirality Research Center, Chiba University, Chiba 263-8522, Japan
| | - Taisuke Hasegawa
- the Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
| | - Megumi Takahashi
- the Division of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan
| | - Naoya Honda
- From the Division of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama 700-8530, Japan
| | - Naoki Hashimoto
- the Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Chiba University, Chiba 263-8522, Japan
| | - Kazumi Shimono
- the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Toho University, Funabashi 274-8510, Japan, and
| | | | | | - Seiji Miyauchi
- the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Toho University, Funabashi 274-8510, Japan, and
| | - Shin Takagi
- the Division of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan
| | - Shigehiko Hayashi
- the Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
| | - Takeshi Murata
- the Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Chiba University, Chiba 263-8522, Japan, the Molecular Chirality Research Center, Chiba University, Chiba 263-8522, Japan,
| | - Yuki Sudo
- From the Division of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama 700-8530, Japan,
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Trojanowski NF, Fang-Yen C. Simultaneous Optogenetic Stimulation of Individual Pharyngeal Neurons and Monitoring of Feeding Behavior in Intact C. elegans. Methods Mol Biol 2015; 1327:105-19. [PMID: 26423971 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-2842-2_9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Optogenetic approaches have proven powerful for examining the role of neural circuits in generating behaviors, especially in systems where electrophysiological manipulation is not possible. Here we describe a method for optogenetically manipulating single pharyngeal neurons in intact C. elegans while monitoring pharyngeal behavior. This approach provides bidirectional and dynamic control of pharyngeal neural activity simultaneously with a behavioral readout and has allowed us to test hypotheses about the roles of individual pharyngeal neurons in regulating feeding behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas F Trojanowski
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, 210 S. 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania, CRB 211, 415 Curie Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Christopher Fang-Yen
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, 210 S. 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania, CRB 211, 415 Curie Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
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Sharma P, Pienaar IS. Pharmacogenetic and optical dissection for mechanistic understanding of Parkinson's disease: Potential utilities revealed through behavioural assessment. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2014; 47:87-100. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2014.07.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2014] [Revised: 07/04/2014] [Accepted: 07/30/2014] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
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Affiliation(s)
- Arjumand Ghazi
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, United States; Department of Cell Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, United States; Department of Developmental Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
| | - Judith Yanowitz
- Department of Cell Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, United States; Department of Developmental Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, United States; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
| | - Gary A Silverman
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, United States; Department of Cell Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
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