Laser stimulation of auditory neurons: effect of shorter pulse duration and penetration depth

We have pioneered what we believe is a novel method of stimulating cochlear neurons, using pulsed infrared radiation, based on the hypothesis that optical radiation can provide more spatially selective stimulation of the cochlea than electric current. Very little of the available optical parameter space has been used for optical stimulation of neurons. Here, we use a pulsed diode laser (1.94 μm) to stimulate auditory neurons of the gerbil. Radiant exposures measured at CAP threshold are similar for pulse durations of 5, 10, 30, and 100 μs, but greater for 300-μs-long pulses. There is evidence that water absorption of optical radiation is a significant factor in optical stimulation. Heat-transfer-based analysis of the data indicates that potential structures involved in optical stimulation of cochlear neurons have a dimension on the order of ∼10 μm. The implications of these data could direct further research and design of an optical cochlear implant.     

Non-Scanning Fiber-Optic Near-Infrared Beam Led to Two-Photon Optogenetic Stimulation In-Vivo

Stimulation of specific neurons expressing opsins in a targeted region to manipulate brain function has proved to be a powerful tool in neuroscience. However, the use of visible light for optogenetic stimulation is invasive due to low penetration depth and tissue damage owing to larger absorption and scattering. Here, we report, for the first time, in-depth non-scanning fiber-optic two-photon optogenetic stimulation (FO-TPOS) of neurons in-vivo in transgenic mouse models. In order to optimize the deep-brain stimulation strategy, we characterized two-photon activation efficacy at different near-infrared laser parameters. The significantly-enhanced in-depth stimulation efficiency of FO-TPOS as compared to conventional single-photon beam was demonstrated both by experiments and Monte Carlo simulation. The non-scanning FO-TPOS technology will lead to better understanding of the in-vivo neural circuitry because this technology permits more precise and less invasive anatomical delivery of stimulation.     

Rohon-Beard sensory neurons are induced by BMP4 expressing non-neural ectoderm in Xenopus laevis

Rohon-Beard mechanosensory neurons (RBs), neural crest cells, and neurogenic placodes arise at the border of the neural- and non-neural ectoderm during anamniote vertebrate development. Neural crest cells require BMP expressing non-neural ectoderm for their induction. To determine if epidermal ectoderm-derived BMP signaling is also involved in the induction of RB sensory neurons, the medial region of the neural plate from donor Xenopus laevis embryos was transplanted into the non-neural ventral ectoderm of host embryos at the same developmental stage. The neural plate border and RBs were induced at the transplant sites, as shown by expression of Xblimp1, and XHox11L2 and XN-tubulin, respectively. Transplantation studies between pigmented donors and albino hosts showed that neurons are induced both in donor neural and host epidermal tissue. Because an intermediate level of BMP4 signaling is required to induce neural plate border fates, we directly tested BMP4′s ability to induce RBs; beads soaked in either 1 or 10 ng/ml were able to induce RBs in cultured neural plate tissue. Conversely, RBs fail to form when neural plate tissue from embryos with decreased BMP activity, either from injection of noggin or a dominant negative BMP receptor, was transplanted into the non-neural ectoderm of un-manipulated hosts. We conclude that contact between neural and non-neural ectoderm is capable of inducing RBs, that BMP4 can induce RB markers, and that BMP activity is required for induction of ectopic RB sensory neurons.     

Preparation of Drosophila Central Neurons for in situ Patch Clamping

Short generation times and facile genetic techniques make the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster an excellent genetic model in fundamental neuroscience research. Ion channels are the basis of all behavior since they mediate neuronal excitability. The first voltage gated ion channel cloned was the Drosophila voltage gated potassium channel Shaker^1,2. Toward understanding the role of ion channels and membrane excitability for nervous system function it is useful to combine powerful genetic tools available in Drosophila with in situ patch clamp recordings. For many years such recordings have been hampered by the small size of the Drosophila CNS. Furthermore, a robust sheath made of glia and collagen constituted obstacles for patch pipette access to central neurons. Removal of this sheath is a necessary precondition for patch clamp recordings from any neuron in the adult Drosophila CNS. In recent years scientists have been able to conduct in situ patch clamp recordings from neurons in the adult brain^3,4 and ventral nerve cord of embryonic^5,6, larval^7,8,9,10, and adult Drosophila^11,12,13,14. A stable giga-seal is the main precondition for a good patch and depends on clean contact of the patch pipette with the cell membrane to avoid leak currents. Therefore, for whole cell in situ patch clamp recordings from adult Drosophila neurons must be cleaned thoroughly. In the first step, the ganglionic sheath has to be treated enzymatically and mechanically removed to make the target cells accessible. In the second step, the cell membrane has to be polished so that no layer of glia, collagen or other material may disturb giga-seal formation. This article describes how to prepare an identified central neuron in the Drosophila ventral nerve cord, the flight motoneuron 5 (MN5¹⁵), for somatic whole cell patch clamp recordings. Identification and visibility of the neuron is achieved by targeted expression of GFP in MN5. We do not aim to explain the patch clamp technique itself.     

Progenitor-derived Oligodendrocyte Culture System from Human Fetal Brain

Differentiation of human neural progenitors into neuronal and glial cell types offers a model to study and compare molecular regulation of neural cell lineage development. In vitro expansion of neural progenitors from fetal CNS tissue has been well characterized. Despite the identification and isolation of glial progenitors from adult human sub-cortical white matter and development of various culture conditions to direct differentiation of fetal neural progenitors into myelin producing oligodendrocytes, acquiring sufficient human oligodendrocytes for in vitro experimentation remains difficult. Differentiation of galactocerebroside⁺ (GalC) and O4⁺ oligodendrocyte precursor or progenitor cells (OPC) from neural precursor cells has been reported using second trimester fetal brain. However, these cells do not proliferate in the absence of support cells including astrocytes and neurons, and are lost quickly over time in culture. The need remains for a culture system to produce cells of the oligodendrocyte lineage suitable for in vitro experimentation.Culture of primary human oligodendrocytes could, for example, be a useful model to study the pathogenesis of neurotropic infectious agents like the human polyomavirus, JCV, that in vivo infects those cells. These cultured cells could also provide models of other demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). Primary, human fetal brain-derived, multipotential neural progenitor cells proliferate in vitro while maintaining the capacity to differentiate into neurons (progenitor-derived neurons, PDN) and astrocytes (progenitor-derived astrocytes, PDA) This study shows that neural progenitors can be induced to differentiate through many of the stages of oligodendrocytic lineage development (progenitor-derived oligodendrocytes, PDO). We culture neural progenitor cells in DMEM-F12 serum-free media supplemented with basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), platelet derived growth factor (PDGF-AA), Sonic hedgehog (Shh), neurotrophic factor 3 (NT-3), N-2 and triiodothyronine (T3). The cultured cells are passaged at 2.5e6 cells per 75cm flasks approximately every seven days. Using these conditions, the majority of the cells in culture maintain a morphology characterized by few processes and express markers of pre-oligodendrocyte cells, such as A2B5 and O-4. When we remove the four growth factors (GF) (bFGF, PDGF-AA, Shh, NT-3) and add conditioned media from PDN, the cells start to acquire more processes and express markers specific of oligodendrocyte differentiation, such as GalC and myelin basic protein (MBP). We performed phenotypic characterization using multicolor flow cytometry to identify unique markers of oligodendrocyte.     

Optogenetic Activation of Zebrafish Somatosensory Neurons using ChEF-tdTomato

Larval zebrafish are emerging as a model for describing the development and function of simple neural circuits. Due to their external fertilization, rapid development, and translucency, zebrafish are particularly well suited for optogenetic approaches to investigate neural circuit function. In this approach, light-sensitive ion channels are expressed in specific neurons, enabling the experimenter to activate or inhibit them at will and thus assess their contribution to specific behaviors. Applying these methods in larval zebrafish is conceptually simple but requires the optimization of technical details. Here we demonstrate a procedure for expressing a channelrhodopsin variant in larval zebrafish somatosensory neurons, photo-activating single cells, and recording the resulting behaviors. By introducing a few modifications to previously established methods, this approach could be used to elicit behavioral responses from single neurons activated up to at least 4 days post-fertilization (dpf). Specifically, we created a transgene using a somatosensory neuron enhancer, CREST3, to drive the expression of the tagged channelrhodopsin variant, ChEF-tdTomato. Injecting this transgene into 1-cell stage embryos results in mosaic expression in somatosensory neurons, which can be imaged with confocal microscopy. Illuminating identified cells in these animals with light from a 473 nm DPSS laser, guided through a fiber optic cable, elicits behaviors that can be recorded with a high-speed video camera and analyzed quantitatively. This technique could be adapted to study behaviors elicited by activating any zebrafish neuron. Combining this approach with genetic or pharmacological perturbations will be a powerful way to investigate circuit formation and function.     

Transient receptor potential (TRP) channel function in the reproductive axis

Transient receptor potential (TRP) channels play important functional roles in the signal transduction machinery of hormone-secreting cells and have recently been implicated in reproductive physiology. While expression studies have demonstrated TRP channel expression at all levels of the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal (hpg) axis, functional details about TRP channel action at the level of the individual cells controlling reproduction are just beginning to emerge. Canonical TRP (TRPC) channels are prominently expressed in the reproductive center of the neuroendocrine brain, i.e. in kisspeptin and gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons. Kisspeptin neurons are depolarized by leptin via activation of TRPC channels and kisspeptin depolarizes GnRH neurons through TRPC4 activation. Recent studies have functionally identified TRPC channels also in gonadotrope cells in the anterior pituitary gland, which secrete gonadotropins in response to GnRH and thus regulate gonadal function. TRP channel expression in these cells exhibits remarkable plasticity and depends on the hormonal status of the animal. Subsequent functional analyses have demonstrated that TRPC5 in gonadotropes contributes to depolarization of the plasma membrane upon GnRH stimulation and increases the intracellular Ca²⁺ concentration via its own Ca²⁺ permeability and via the activation of voltage-gated Ca²⁺ channels. However, conditional gene targeting experiments will be needed to unambiguously dissect the physiological role of TRPC channels in the different cell types of the reproductive axis in vivo.     

Infrared neural stimulation induces intracellular Ca2+ release mediated by phospholipase C

The influence of infrared laser pulses on intracellular Ca²⁺ signaling was investigated in neural cell lines with fluorescent live cell imaging. The probe Fluo‐4 was used to measure Ca²⁺ in HT22 mouse hippocampal neurons and nonelectrically excitable U87 human glioblastoma cells exposed to 50 to 500 ms infrared pulses at 1470 nm. Fluorescence recordings of Fluo‐4 demonstrated that infrared stimulation induced an instantaneous intracellular Ca²⁺ transient with similar dose‐response characteristics in hippocampal neurons and glioblastoma cells (half‐maximal effective energy density EC₅₀ of around 58 J.cm^?2). For both type of cells, the source of the infrared‐induced Ca²⁺ transients was found to originate from intracellular stores and to be mediated by phospholipase C and IP₃‐induced Ca²⁺ release from the endoplasmic reticulum. The activation of phosphoinositide signaling by IR light is a new mechanism of interaction relevant to infrared neural stimulation that will also be widely applicable to nonexcitable cell types. The prospect of infrared optostimulation of the PLC/IP₃ cell signaling cascade has many potential applications including the development of optoceutical therapeutics.      

In vivo Laser Axotomy in C. elegans

Neurons communicate with other cells via axons and dendrites, slender membrane extensions that contain pre- or post-synaptic specializations. If a neuron is damaged by injury or disease, it may regenerate. Cell-intrinsic and extrinsic factors influence the ability of a neuron to regenerate and restore function. Recently, the nematode C. elegans has emerged as an excellent model organism to identify genes and signaling pathways that influence the regeneration of neurons^1-6. The main way to initiate neuronal regeneration in C. elegans is laser-mediated cutting, or axotomy. During axotomy, a fluorescently-labeled neuronal process is severed using high-energy pulses. Initially, neuronal regeneration in C. elegans was examined using an amplified femtosecond laser⁵. However, subsequent regeneration studies have shown that a conventional pulsed laser can be used to accurately sever neurons in vivo and elicit a similar regenerative response^1,3,7.We present a protocol for performing in vivo laser axotomy in the worm using a MicroPoint pulsed laser, a turnkey system that is readily available and that has been widely used for targeted cell ablation. We describe aligning the laser, mounting the worms, cutting specific neurons, and assessing subsequent regeneration. The system provides the ability to cut large numbers of neurons in multiple worms during one experiment. Thus, laser axotomy as described herein is an efficient system for initiating and analyzing the process of regeneration.     

Three-dimensional Quantification of Dendritic Spines from Pyramidal Neurons Derived from Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Dendritic spines are small protrusions that correspond to the post-synaptic compartments of excitatory synapses in the central nervous system. They are distributed along the dendrites. Their morphology is largely dependent on neuronal activity, and they are dynamic. Dendritic spines express glutamatergic receptors (AMPA and NMDA receptors) on their surface and at the levels of postsynaptic densities. Each spine allows the neuron to control its state and local activity independently. Spine morphologies have been extensively studied in glutamatergic pyramidal cells of the brain cortex, using both in vivo approaches and neuronal cultures obtained from rodent tissues. Neuropathological conditions can be associated to altered spine induction and maturation, as shown in rodent cultured neurons and one-dimensional quantitative analysis ¹. The present study describes a protocol for the 3D quantitative analysis of spine morphologies using human cortical neurons derived from neural stem cells (late cortical progenitors). These cells were initially obtained from induced pluripotent stem cells. This protocol allows the analysis of spine morphologies at different culture periods, and with possible comparison between induced pluripotent stem cells obtained from control individuals with those obtained from patients with psychiatric diseases.     

A novel silicon patch‐clamp chip permits high‐fidelity recording of ion channel activity from functionally defined neurons

We report on a simple and high‐yield manufacturing process for silicon planar patch‐clamp chips, which allow low capacitance and series resistance from individually identified cultured neurons. Apertures are etched in a high‐quality silicon nitride film on a silicon wafer; wells are opened on the backside of the wafer by wet etching and passivated by a thick deposited silicon dioxide film to reduce the capacitance of the chip and to facilitate the formation of a high‐impedance cell to aperture seal. The chip surface is suitable for culture of neurons over a small orifice in the substrate with minimal leak current. Collectively, these features enable high‐fidelity electrophysiological recording of transmembrane currents resulting from ion channel activity in cultured neurons. Using cultured Lymnaea neurons we demonstrate whole‐cell current recordings obtained from a voltage‐clamp stimulation protocol, and in current‐clamp mode we report action potentials stimulated by membrane depolarization steps. Despite the relatively large size of these neurons, good temporal and spatial control of cell membrane voltage was evident. To our knowledge this is the first report of recording of ion channel activity and action potentials from neurons cultured directly on a planar patch‐clamp chip. This interrogation platform has enormous potential as a novel tool to readily provide high‐information content during pharmaceutical assays to investigate in vitro models of disease, as well as neuronal physiology and synaptic plasticity. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2010;107:593–600. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Electrophysiological Characterization of GFP-Expressing Cell Populations in the Intact Retina

Studying the physiological properties and synaptic connections of specific neurons in the intact tissue is a challenge for those cells that lack conspicuous morphological features or show a low population density. This applies particularly to retinal amacrine cells, an exceptionally multiform class of interneurons that comprise roughly 30 subtypes in mammals¹. Though being a crucial part of the visual processing by shaping the retinal output², most of these subtypes have not been studied up to now in a functional context because encountering these cells with a recording electrode is a rare event.Recently, a multitude of transgenic mouse lines is available that express fluorescent markers like green fluorescent protein (GFP) under the control of promoters for membrane receptors or enzymes that are specific to only a subset of neurons in a given tissue^3,4. These pre-labeled cells are therefore accessible to directed microelectrode targeting under microscopic control, permitting the systematic study of their physiological properties in situ. However, excitation of fluorescent markers is accompanied by the risk of phototoxicity for the living tissue. In the retina, this approach is additionally hampered by the problem that excitation light causes appropriate stimulation of the photoreceptors, thus inflicting photopigment bleaching and transferring the retinal circuits into a light-adapted condition. These drawbacks are overcome by using infrared excitation delivered by a mode-locked laser in short pulses of the femtosecond range. Two-photon excitation provides energy sufficient for fluorophore excitation and at the same time restricts the excitation to a small tissue volume minimizing the hazards of photodamage⁵. Also, it leaves the retina responsive to visual stimuli since infrared light (>850 nm) is only poorly absorbed by photopigments⁶.In this article we demonstrate the use of a transgenic mouse retina to attain electrophysiological in situ recordings from GFP-expressing cells that are visually targeted by two-photon excitation. The retina is prepared and maintained in darkness and can be subjected to optical stimuli which are projected through the condenser of the microscope (Figure 1). Patch-clamp recording of light responses can be combined with dye filling to reveal the morphology and to check for gap junction-mediated dye coupling to neighboring cells, so that the target cell can by studied on different experimental levels.     

Induction of neuronal activation by femtosecond‐pulsed laser irradiation and its potential application for amyloid‐β–induced toxicity assessment

Manipulating neural activity is crucial for studying the neural connectivity and the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative disease. Among various techniques for neural activation, direct optical stimulation method with femtosecond‐pulsed laser is simple and can be specifically applied on a single neuron. Brief irradiation of femtosecond laser pulses on a neuron elevates intracellular calcium, and it propagates to adjacent neurons. However, the mechanisms of laser‐induced neural activation are still unclear. In this report, we have elucidated the mechanism of laser‐induced neural activation which could be mediated by superoxide, specifically blocked by diphenyleneiodonium chloride, and depletion in intracellular calcium storage. Furthermore, we also showed that the propagation of calcium initiated by laser stimulation is dependent on the presence of extracellular calcium as well as electrical and chemical synapses. We verified the applicability of such mechanism for the assessment of neuronal functionality, by measuring calcium elevation, intracellular calcium propagation, ROS increase, and performing cell death assay in vehicle and Aβ‐treated neurons. This work suggests promising applications of the potential for implementing such laser‐induced neural activation for rapid and reliable drug screening.

     

大鼠全脑缺血后海马CA1区锥体神经元L型钙通道电流的改变(英)

已有研究表明在脑缺血期间及再灌流后早期,海马CA1锥体神经元细胞内钙浓度明显升高,这一钙超载被认为是缺血性脑损伤的重要机制之一.电压依赖性钙通道是介导正常CA1神经元钙内流的主要途径.实验观察了脑缺血再灌流后早期海马CA1锥体神经元电压依赖性L型钙通道的变化.以改良的四血管闭塞法制作大鼠15 min前脑缺血模型,在急性分离的海马CA1神经元上,采用膜片钳细胞贴附式记录L型电压依赖性钙通道电流.脑缺血后CA1神经元L型钙通道的总体平均电流明显增大,这是由于通道的开放概率增加所致.进一步分析单通道动力学显示,脑缺血后通道的开放时间变长,通道的开放频率增大.研究结果提示L型钙通道功能活动增强可能参与了缺血后海马CA1锥体神经元的细胞内钙浓度升高.     

Direct Visualization of the Murine Dorsal Cochlear Nucleus for Optogenetic Stimulation of the Auditory Pathway

Investigation into the use of virus-mediated gene transfer to arrest or reverse hearing loss has largely been relegated to the peripheral auditory system. Few studies have examined gene transfer to the central auditory system. The dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) of the brainstem, which contains second order neurons of the auditory pathway, is a potential site for gene transfer. In this protocol, a technique for direct and maximal exposure of the murine DCN via a posterior fossa approach is demonstrated. This approach allows for either acute or survival surgery. Following direct visualization of the DCN, a host of experiments are possible, including injection of opsins into the cochlear nucleus and subsequent stimulation by an optical fiber coupled to a blue light laser. Other neurophysiology experiments, such as electrical stimulation and neural injector tracings are also feasible. The level of visualization and the duration of stimulation achievable make this approach applicable to a wide range of experiments.     

The action of philanthotoxin-343 and photolabile analogues on locust (Schistocerca gregaria) muscle

The effects of philanthotoxin-343 (PhTX-343; tyrosyl-butanoyl-spermine) and photolabile analogues of this synthetic toxin on locust (Schistocerca gregaria) skeletal muscle have been investigated using whole muscle preparations (twitch contractions), single muscle fibres (excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs)) and muscle membrane patches containing single quisqualate-sensitive glutamate receptors (qGluR). Analogues containing an azido group attached to either the butanoyl side-chain of PhTX-343 or as a substitute for the hydroxyl moiety of the tyrosyl residue were about 6 fold more potent antagonists than PhTX-343; those with an azido group located at the distal end of the toxin molecule were generally 2–3 fold less potent than PhTX-343. When these compounds were tested in subdued light, they were reversible antagonists of the muscle twitch, EPSC and qGluR. When a muscle was irradiated with U.V. during application of photolabile toxin combined with either neural stimulation of the muscle orl-glutamate application, antagonism of the twitch, EPSC and qGluR was complete and irreversible.     

M-channels modulate the intrinsic excitability and synaptic responses of layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons in auditory cortex

Neurons in the auditory cortex are believed to utilize temporal patterns of neural activity to accurately process auditory information but the intrinsic neuronal mechanism underlying the control of auditory neural activity is not known. The slowly activating, persistent K⁺ channel, also called M-channel that belongs to the Kv7 family, is already known to be important in regulating subthreshold neural excitability and synaptic summation in neocortical and hippocampal pyramidal neurons. However, its functional role in the primary auditory cortex (A1) has never been characterized. In this study, we investigated the roles of M-channels on neuronal excitability, short-term plasticity, and synaptic summation of A1 layer 2/3 regular spiking pyramidal neurons with whole-cell current-clamp recordings in vitro. We found that blocking M-channels with a selective M-channel blocker, XE991, significantly increased neural excitability of A1 layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons. Furthermore, M-channels controled synaptic responses of intralaminar-evoked excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs); XE991 significantly increased EPSP amplitude, decreased the rate of short-term depression, and increased the synaptic summation. These results suggest that M-channels are involved in controlling spike output patterns and synaptic responses of A1 layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons, which would have important implications in auditory information processing.     

Intrastriatal transplantation of stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth reduces motor defects in Parkinsonian rats

Background

This study explored the neural differentiation and therapeutic effects of stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED) in a rat model of Parkinson's disease (PD).

Fiber-optic Implantation for Chronic Optogenetic Stimulation of Brain Tissue

Elucidating patterns of neuronal connectivity has been a challenge for both clinical and basic neuroscience. Electrophysiology has been the gold standard for analyzing patterns of synaptic connectivity, but paired electrophysiological recordings can be both cumbersome and experimentally limiting. The development of optogenetics has introduced an elegant method to stimulate neurons and circuits, both in vitro¹ and in vivo^2,3. By exploiting cell-type specific promoter activity to drive opsin expression in discrete neuronal populations, one can precisely stimulate genetically defined neuronal subtypes in distinct circuits^4-6. Well described methods to stimulate neurons, including electrical stimulation and/or pharmacological manipulations, are often cell-type indiscriminate, invasive, and can damage surrounding tissues. These limitations could alter normal synaptic function and/or circuit behavior. In addition, due to the nature of the manipulation, the current methods are often acute and terminal. Optogenetics affords the ability to stimulate neurons in a relatively innocuous manner, and in genetically targeted neurons. The majority of studies involving in vivo optogenetics currently use a optical fiber guided through an implanted cannula^6,7; however, limitations of this method include damaged brain tissue with repeated insertion of an optical fiber, and potential breakage of the fiber inside the cannula. Given the burgeoning field of optogenetics, a more reliable method of chronic stimulation is necessary to facilitate long-term studies with minimal collateral tissue damage. Here we provide our modified protocol as a video article to complement the method effectively and elegantly described in Sparta et al.⁸ for the fabrication of a fiber optic implant and its permanent fixation onto the cranium of anesthetized mice, as well as the assembly of the fiber optic coupler connecting the implant to a light source. The implant, connected with optical fibers to a solid-state laser, allows for an efficient method to chronically photostimulate functional neuronal circuitry with less tissue damage⁹ using small, detachable, tethers. Permanent fixation of the fiber optic implants provides consistent, long-term in vivo optogenetic studies of neuronal circuits in awake, behaving mice¹⁰ with minimal tissue damage.