Mitochondrial swelling and restorable fragmentation stimulated by femtosecond laser

Real-time precision opto-control of chemical processes in live cells

Precision control of molecular activities and chemical reactions in live cells is a long-sought capability by life scientists. No existing technology can probe molecular targets in cells and simultaneously control the activities of only these targets at high spatial precision. We develop a real-time precision opto-control (RPOC) technology that detects a chemical-specific optical response from molecular targets during laser scanning and uses the optical signal to couple a separate laser to only interact with these molecules without affecting other sample locations. We demonstrate precision control of molecular states of a photochromic molecule in different regions of the cells. We also synthesize a photoswitchable compound and use it with RPOC to achieve site-specific inhibition of microtubule polymerization and control of organelle dynamics in live cells. RPOC can automatically detect and control biomolecular activities and chemical processes in dynamic living samples with submicron spatial accuracy, fast response time, and high chemical specificity.

There is a need to control molecular activities at high spatial precision. Here the authors report a real-time precision opto-control technology that detects a chemical-specific optical response from molecular targets, and precisely control photoswitchable microtubule polymerization inhibitors in cells.

Temperature and depth evaluation of the in vitro effects of femtosecond laser on oral soft tissue, with or without air-cooling

Femtosecond laser is an effective and safe tool in many surgeries, but the studies of its effect on oral soft tissue ablation are insufficient. This study aimed to investigate the effect of soft tissue ablation with a 1030-nm femtosecond laser on temperature and depth. Twenty Sprague-Dawley rat tongue specimens were obtained and flat-mounted. The 1030-nm femtosecond laser was controlled by a computer system, with a set distance of 4.7 mm between the laser aperture and soft tissue surfaces. Ten specimens were ablated for > 1 min with or without air-cooling for temperature measurement, while the other 10 specimens were ablated for depth measurements, using the following parameters: (i) 3 W, 2000 mm/s; (ii) 3 W, 4000 mm/s; (iii) 5 W, 2000 mm/s; (iv) 5 W, 4000 mm/s; (v) 8 W, 2000 mm/s; (vi) 8 W, 4000 mm/s. Temperature changes were measured using a type-K thermocouple. The depth attained using different power and scanning speed settings was measured by a three-dimensional morphology measurement laser microscope. Laser power, scanning speed, and air-cooling effects were determined. Higher energy and lower speed induced higher temperatures (p < 0.05), which were significantly decreased by air-cooling (p < 0.05). The lowest ablation depth was obtained at 3 W and 4000 mm/s (72.63 ± 6.47 μm) (p < 0.05). The greatest incision depth was achieved at 8 W and 2000 mm/s (696.19 ± 35.37 μm), or 4000 mm/s (681.16 ± 55.65 μm) (p < 0.05). The 1030-nm femtosecond laser application demonstrates clinically acceptable ablation efficiency, without marked temperature damage, in a controlled manner.

Prophylactic application of laser light restores L-FABP expression in the livers of rats submitted to partial ischemia

OBJECTIVES

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the protective effect of pre-conditioning treatment with laser light on hepatic injury in rats submitted to partial ischemia using mitochondrial function and liver fatty acid binding protein as markers.

METHODS

Rats were divided into four groups (n=5): 1) Control, 2) Control + Laser, 3) Partial Ischemia and 4) Partial Ischemia + Laser. Ischemia was induced by clamping the hepatic pedicle of the left and middle lobes of the liver for 60 minutes. Laser light at 660 nm was applied to the liver immediately prior to the induction of ischemia at 22.5 J/cm2, with 30 seconds of illumination at five individual points. The animals were sacrificed after 30 minutes of reperfusion. Blood and liver tissues were collected for analysis of mitochondrial function, determination of malondialdehyde and analysis of fatty acid binding protein expression by Western blot.

RESULTS

Mitochondrial function decreased in the Partial Ischemia group, especially during adenosine diphosphate-activated respiration (state 3), and the expression of fatty acid binding protein was also reduced. The application of laser light prevented bioenergetic changes and restored the expression of fatty acid binding protein.

CONCLUSION

Prophylactic application of laser light to the livers of rats submitted to partial ischemia was found to have a protective effect in the liver, with normalization of both mitochondrial function and fatty acid binding protein tissue expression.

Quantitative analysis of mitoflash excited by femtosecond laser

Mitochondrial oxidative flashes (mitoflashes) are oxidative burst events in mitochondria. It is crosslinked with numerous mitochondrial molecular processes and related with pivotal cell functions such as apoptosis and respiration. In previous research, mitoflashes were found as spontaneous occasional events. It would be observed more frequently if cells were treated with proapoptotic chemicals. We show that multiple mitoflashes can be initiated by a single femtosecond-laser stimulation that was tightly focused on a diffraction-limited spot in the mitochondrial tubular structure. The mitoflash events triggered by different photostimulations are quantified and analyzed. The width and amplitude of mitoflashes are found very sensitive to stimulation parameters including laser power, exposure duration, and total incident laser energy. This study provides a quantitative investigation on the photostimulated mitoflashes. It may thus demonstrate such optical method to be a promising technique in future mitochondrial research.

Molecular response of mitochondria to a short-duration femtosecond-laser stimulation

The research of mitochondrial dysfunction is of great importance and implicated in a range of neurodegenerative diseases. Traditionally, to investigate mitochondrial dynamics and functions, mitochondria are usually stimulated indirectly by treating cells with exogenous chemicals like oxidative agents. Such treatment lacks precision and controllability, and will simultaneously activate unknown complex cell processes. In this study, we report that two-photon 100-μs line scan by a femtosecond laser can induce restorable fragmentation or swelling of any targeted mitochondria instead of ablation or disruption. It can be defined by a customized two-photon line scan and inserted into any microscopy sequence as a single frame. The mitochondrial response is dependent on the peak power of laser pulses, cellular oxidative environment, and membrane permeability transition pores of mitochondria. The translocation of cytochrome C and Bax can be regulated by the photostimulation. Moreover, significant upregulation of Bcl-2 can be observed if the whole cell is stimulated. Those results suggest the mitochondrial and molecular response to photostimulation is quite complex. This femtosecond-laser stimulation method can thus provide a very noninvasive, precise, and controllable method to stimulate single target mitochondria for related biological research.

Dendritic mitoflash as a putative signal for stabilizing long-term synaptic plasticity

Mitochondrial flashes (mitoflashes) are recently discovered excitable mitochondrial events in many cell types. Here we investigate their occurrence in the context of structural long-term potentiation (sLTP) at hippocampal synapses. At dendritic spines stimulated by electric pulses, glycine, or targeted glutamate uncaging, induction of sLTP is associated with a phasic occurrence of local, quantized mitochondrial activity in the form of one or a few mitoflashes, over a 30-min window. Low-dose nigericin or photoactivation that elicits mitoflashes stabilizes otherwise short-term spine enlargement into sLTP. Meanwhile, scavengers of reactive oxygen species suppress mitoflashes while blocking sLTP. With targeted photoactivation of mitoflashes, we further show that the stabilization of sLTP is effective within the critical 30-min time-window and a spatial extent of ~2 μm, similar to that of local diffusive reactive oxygen species. These findings indicate a potential signaling role of dendritic mitochondria in synaptic plasticity, and provide new insights into the cellular function of mitoflashes.

Mitoflashes are dynamic events in mitochondria, associated with depolarization and release of reactive oxygen species, and have been associated with several cellular functions. The authors now show that in neurons, dendritic mitoflashes are involved in structural postsynaptic changes during LTP.

Photothermal imaging of skeletal muscle mitochondria

The morphology and topology of mitochondria provide useful information about the physiological function of skeletal muscle. Previous studies of skeletal muscle mitochondria are based on observation with transmission, scanning electron microscopy or fluorescence microscopy. In contrast, photothermal (PT) microscopy has advantages over the above commonly used microscopic techniques because of no requirement for complex sample preparation by fixation or fluorescent-dye staining. Here, we employed the PT technique using a simple diode laser to visualize skeletal muscle mitochondria in unstained and stained tissues. The fine mitochondrial network structures in muscle fibers could be imaged with the PT imaging system, even in unstained tissues. PT imaging of tissues stained with toluidine blue revealed the structures of subsarcolemmal (SS) and intermyofibrillar (IMF) mitochondria and the swelling behavior of mitochondria in damaged muscle fibers with sufficient image quality. PT image analyses based on fast Fourier transform (FFT) and Grey-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) were performed to derive the characteristic size of mitochondria and to discriminate the image patterns of normal and damaged fibers.