Zebrafish neurons
projecting to the brain (green). One neuron expresses
a
light-activatable enzyme (red). Scientist were able to stimulate the
regeneration of
injured neurons using optogenetics.
Source: Helmholtz
Zentrum München
(November 17, 2015) Scientists
at Helmholtz Zentrum München have succeeded in stimulating the regeneration of
injured neurons in living fish by the use of light. To this end, they employed
so-called Optogenetics, i.e. light inducible protein activation. The results
have recently been published in the journal ‘Current Biology’.
The nervous system is built to last a lifetime, but diverse
diseases or environmental insults can overpower the capacity of neurons to
maintain function or to repair after trauma. A team led by Dr. Hernán
López-Schier, head of the Research Unit Sensory Biology and Organogenesis at
Helmholtz Zentrum München, now succeeded in promoting the repair of an injured
neural circuit in zebrafish.
Key for the researchers’ success was the messenger molecule
cAMP, which is produced by an enzyme called adenylyl cyclase. For their
experiment, the scientist used a special form of this enzyme which is inducible
by blue light. Therefore, the scientists are able to specifically modulate the
production of cAMP in cells expressing this enzyme by the use of blue light.*