Weizmann Institute Optogeneticists Use Mosquito Rhodopsins to Boost Brain Research
New versions of light-sensitive proteins could illuminate the dark corners of our brain’s communication pathways
Weizmann Institute of Science
Segment of a mouse brain. Red illuminated areas are communication pathways between neurons that express the mosquito-derived protein. In blue: cells’ nuclei
Weizmann Institute of Science
Illustration of the mosquito rhodopsin’s structure. Efficient and stable Previous Next
Newswise Can a protein found in a mosquito lead to a better understanding of the workings of our own brains? Prof. Ofer Yizhar and his team in the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Department of Neurobiology took a light-sensitive protein derived from mosquitos and used it to devise an improved method for investigating the messages that are passed from neuron to neuron in the brains of mice. This method, reported in
Weizmann Institute of Science
Can a protein found in a mosquito lead to a better understanding of the workings of our own brains? Prof. Ofer Yizhar and his team in the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Neurobiology Department took a light-sensitive protein derived from mosquitos and used it to devise an improved method for investigating the messages that are passed from neuron to neuron in the brains of mice. This method, reported today in Neuron, could potentially help scientists solve age-old cerebral mysteries that could pave the way for new and improved therapies to treat neurological and psychiatric conditions.
Yizhar and his lab team develop so-called optogenetic methods – research techniques that allow them to “reverse engineer” the activity of specific brain circuits in order to better understand their function. Optogenetics uses proteins known as rhodopsins to control the activity of neurons in the mouse brain. Rhodopsins are light-sensing proteins – they are most
Can a protein found in a mosquito lead to a better understanding of the workings of our own brains? Prof. Ofer Yizhar and his team in the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Neurobiology Department took a light-sensitive protein derived from mosquitos and used it to devise an improved method for investigating the messages that are passed from neuron to neuron in the brains of mice. This method, reported today in
Neuron, could potentially help scientists solve age-old cerebral mysteries that could pave the way for new and improved therapies to treat neurological and psychiatric conditions.
Yizhar and his lab team develop so-called optogenetic methods – research techniques that allow them to “reverse engineer” the activity of specific brain circuits in order to better understand their function. Optogenetics uses proteins known as rhodopsins to control the activity of neurons in the mouse brain. Rhodopsins are light-sensing proteins – they are most known for their role in organ
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IMAGE: A mouse brain section highlighting the hippocampus is overlaid with the molecular structures of the anesthetics isoflurane (purple), medetomidine/midazolam/fentanyl (orange), and ketamine/xylazine (red). The four panels in the lower part. view more
Credit: Simon Wiegert, CC-BY
Memory loss is common after general anesthesia, particularly for events occurring immediately before surgery a phenomenon called retrograde amnesia. But a new study publishing on April 1st 2021 in the open access journal
PLOS Biology, led by Simon Wiegert at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Germany, shows that changes in the hippocampus the part of the brain used to make new memories differ depending on which general anesthetic is used. Consequently, their effects on memory formation also differ.
Some general anesthesia affects region of brain responsible for memory
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Drugs used in general anesthesia may cause structural changes in the area of the brain responsible for memory, a new study has found. File Photo by Julian Rovagnati/Shutterstock
April 1 (UPI) Different general anesthetics used during surgical procedures cause chemical changes in patients brains, affecting memory, a study published Thursday by PLOS Biology found.
Three commonly used combinations of anesthetics, tested on mice, all changed brain activity in the hippocampus the region of the brain responsible for memory compared to wakefulness, or not being under anesthesia, or natural sleep, the study showed.