Springer protocols feed by Neuroscience 
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This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader or to display this data on your own website or blog.Intracranial Injection of an Optogenetics Viral Vector Followed by Optical Cannula Implantation for Neural Stimulation in Rat Brain Cortex
Optogenetics is rapidly gaining acceptance as a preferred method to study specific neuronal cell types using light. Optogenetic neuromodulation requires the introduction of a cell-specific viral vector encoding for a light activating ion channel or ion pump and the utilization of a system to deliver light stimulation to brain. Here, we describe a two-part methodology starting with a procedure to inject an optogenetic AAV virus into rat cortex followed by a second procedure to surgically implant an optical cannula for light delivery to the deeper cortical layers. (Source: Springer protocols feed by Neuroscience)
Source: Springer protocols feed by Neuroscience - March 10, 2016 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: news
Optogenetic Approaches for Mesoscopic Brain Mapping
Recent advances in identifying genetically unique neuronal proteins has revolutionized the study of brain circuitry. Researchers are now able to insert specific light-sensitive proteins (opsins) into a wide range of specific cell types via viral injections or by breeding transgenic mice. These opsins enable the activation, inhibition, or modulation of neuronal activity with millisecond control within distinct brain regions defined by genetic markers. Here we present a useful guide to implement this technique into any lab. We first review the materials needed and practical considerations and provide in-depth instructions fo...
Source: Springer protocols feed by Neuroscience - March 10, 2016 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: news
Optogenetic Tools for Confined Stimulation in Deep Brain Structures
Optogenetics has emerged in the past decade as a technique to modulate brain activity with cell-type specificity and with high temporal resolution. Among the challenges associated with this technique is the difficulty to target a spatially restricted neuron population. Indeed, light absorption and scattering in biological tissues make it difficult to illuminate a minute volume, especially in the deep brain, without the use of optical fibers to guide light. This work describes the design and the in vivo application of a side-firing optical fiber adequate for delivering light to specific regions within a brain subcortical st...
Source: Springer protocols feed by Neuroscience - March 10, 2016 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: news
Remote Patterning of Transgene Expression Using Near Infrared-Responsive Plasmonic Hydrogels
The development of noninvasive technologies for remote control of gene expression has received increased attention for their therapeutic potential in clinical scenarios, including cancer, neurological disorders, immunology, tissue engineering, as well as developmental biology research. Near-infrared (NIR) light is a suitable source of energy that can be employed to pattern transgene expression in plasmonic cell constructs. Gold nanoparticles tailored to exhibit a plasmon surface band absorption peaking at NIR wavelengths within the so called tissue optical window (TOW) can be used as fillers in fibrin-based hydrogels. Thes...
Source: Springer protocols feed by Neuroscience - March 10, 2016 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: news
Inscribing Optical Excitability to Non-Excitable Cardiac Cells: Viral Delivery of Optogenetic Tools in Primary Cardiac Fibroblasts
We describe in detail a method to introduce optogenetic actuation tools, a mutant version of channelrhodopsin-2, ChR2(H134R), and archaerhodopsin (ArchT), into primary cardiac fibroblasts (cFB) in vitro by adenoviral infection to yield quick, robust, and consistent expression. Instructions on adjusting infection parameters such as the multiplicity of infection and virus incubation duration are provided to generalize the method for different lab settings or cell types. Specific conditions are discussed to create hybrid co-cultures of the optogenetically modified cFB and non-transformed cardiomyocytes to obtain light-sensiti...
Source: Springer protocols feed by Neuroscience - March 10, 2016 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: news
Optogenetic Light Crafting Tools for the Control of Cardiac Arrhythmias
The control of spatiotemporal dynamics in biological systems is a fundamental problem in nonlinear sciences and has important applications in engineering and medicine. Optogenetic tools combined with advanced optical technologies provide unique opportunities to develop and validate novel approaches to control spatiotemporal complexity in neuronal and cardiac systems. Understanding of the mechanisms and instabilities underlying the onset, perpetuation, and control of cardiac arrhythmias will enable the development and translation of novel therapeutic approaches. Here we describe in detail the preparation and optical mapping...
Source: Springer protocols feed by Neuroscience - March 10, 2016 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: news
Optogenetics: Basic Concepts and Their Development
The discovery of light-gated ion channels and their application to controlling neural activities have had a transformative impact on the field of neuroscience. In recent years, the concept of using light-activated proteins to control biological processes has greatly diversified into other fields, driven by the natural diversity of photoreceptors and decades of knowledge obtained from their biophysical characterization. In this chapter, we will briefly discuss the origin and development of optogenetics and highlight the basic concepts that make it such a powerful technology. We will review how these enabling concepts have d...
Source: Springer protocols feed by Neuroscience - March 10, 2016 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: news
Optogenetic Engineering of Atrial Cardiomyocytes
Optogenetics is emerging in the cardiology field as a new strategy to explore biological functions through the use of light-sensitive proteins and dedicated light sources. For example, this technology allows modification of the electrophysiological properties of cardiac muscle cells with superb spatiotemporal resolution and quantitative control. In this chapter, the optogenetic modification of atrial cardiomyocytes (aCMCs) from 2-day-old Wistar rats using lentiviral vector (LV) technology and the subsequent activation of the light-sensitive proteins (i.e., ion channels) through light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are described. (...
Source: Springer protocols feed by Neuroscience - March 10, 2016 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: news
A Multichannel Recording System with Optical Stimulation for Closed-Loop Optogenetic Experiments
Selective perturbation of the activity of specific cell types in the brain tissue is essential in understanding the function of neuronal circuits involved in cognition and behavior and might also provide therapeutic neuromodulation strategies. Such selective neuronal addressing can be achieved through the optical activation of light-sensitive proteins called opsins that are expressed in specific cell populations through genetic methods—hence the name“optogenetics.” In optogenetic experiments, the electrical activity of the targeted cell populations is optically triggered and monitored using arrays of micr...
Source: Springer protocols feed by Neuroscience - March 10, 2016 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: news
Optogenetic Control of Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor Signaling
FGFR1 is a member of the fibroblast growth factor family, which controls diverse cellular functions such as cell proliferation, migration, and differentiation. OptoFGFR1, an optogenetic method to modulate the FGFR signaling pathway with light by utilizing PHR domain of cryptochrome2 and cytoplasmic region of FGFR1, enabled light-guided activation of FGFR to study its effects on downstream signaling pathway and during diverse biological processes such as cell migration. Here, we describe about optogenetic and microscopic methods to spatiotemporally manipulate FGFR signaling in a single cell or group of cells using confocal ...
Source: Springer protocols feed by Neuroscience - March 10, 2016 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: news
Origin and Detection of Neonatal Seizures: Animal and Clinical Studies
Neonatal seizures remain a major clinical problem worldwide and are harmful to the developing brain. Seizures are associated with poor neurodevelopmental outcomes and significant risk of death requiring urgent diagnosis and intervention. Current antiepileptic drugs however have limited efficacy and are potentially harmful to the developing newborn brain. Despite this, standard clinical practice for the treatment of neonatal seizures remains unchanged. This chapter describes a clinically relevant neonatal animal model of HI-induced seizures. (Source: Springer protocols feed by Neuroscience)
Source: Springer protocols feed by Neuroscience - November 9, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: news
Using Pregnant Sheep to Model Developmental Brain Damage
In order to develop more effective ways of identifying, managing, and treating preterm asphyxial brain injury, stable experimental models are essential. The present review describes the key experimental factors that determine the pattern and severity of brain injury in chronically instrumented fetal sheep, including the depth (“severity”) and duration of asphyxia, and the maturity, and condition of the fetus. These models are valuable to dissect the pathogenesis of key clinical patterns of brain injury in a stable thermal and biochemical environment, and to test therapeutic interventions. (Source: Springer prot...
Source: Springer protocols feed by Neuroscience - November 9, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: news
Prenatal Determinants of Brain Development: Recent Studies and Methodological Advances
Despite advances in neonatal intensive care, survivors of premature birth remain highly susceptible to unique patterns of developmental brain injury that manifest as cerebral palsy and cognitive-learning disabilities. Whereas preterm infants were previously at high risk for destructive brain lesions that resulted in cystic white matter injury and secondary cortical and subcortical gray matter degeneration, contemporary cohorts of preterm survivors commonly display less severe injury that does not appear to involve pronounced glial or neuronal loss. Cerebral development in fetal sheep shares many anatomical and physiologica...
Source: Springer protocols feed by Neuroscience - November 9, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: news
Oligodendrocytes: Cells of Origin for White Matter Injury in the Developing Brain
A prominent pattern of brain injury in preterm born infants involves damage to white matter with impaired oligodendrocyte maturation. This results in diffuse deficits in myelination that are associated with later development of cerebral palsy. While numerous experimental animal models of perinatal white matter injury have been developed, they show a spectrum of effects. This review proposes that adopting a more standard approach to defining white matter injury is important for validating experimental findings against the bona fide human condition. This chapter will describe the pathology of perinatal white matter injury an...
Source: Springer protocols feed by Neuroscience - November 9, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: news
Perinatal and Postnatal Determinants of Brain Development: Recent Studies and Methodological Advances
Perinatal diet is an important factor in programming brain development and susceptibility to obesity. There are currently several elegant and simple prenatal and postnatal animal models in use to mimic the effects of early life overfeeding and to study its impact on brain and metabolic development. In this chapter we will discuss the background to some of these models, with a specific focus on manipulating rodent litter sizes to alter the early life nutritional environment. (Source: Springer protocols feed by Neuroscience)
Source: Springer protocols feed by Neuroscience - November 9, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: news
