Press Release / Health and Fitness / New opsins Chronos and Chrimson solve the problem of how to excite distinct neuronal populations.
New opsins Chronos and Chrimson solve the problem of how to excite distinct neuronal populations.
By GenscriptUSA on April 03 2014 | 355 Views
"Optogenetics" allow researchers to stimulate synaptic activity in specific neurons that are made to express light-sensitive
ion channels (channelrhodopsins). Despite the variety of opsins with dif
"Optogenetics" allow researchers to stimulate synaptic activity in specific neurons that are made to express light-sensitive
ion channels (channelrhodopsins). Despite the variety of opsins with different peak wavelength sensitivities, until now it has not
been possible to independently activate two distinct
neural populations without significant cross-talk or losing temporal resolution. Researchers at MIT reported in Nature on two
new opsins with non-overlapping excitation spectra, Chronos and Chrimson, that allow independent optical excitation of distinct
neural populations in mouse brain slices. These tools open the door to explore how multiple synaptic pathways interact to encode
information in the brain.
Opsin genes occur naturally in microbial algae. In order to efficiently express these genes in mammalian cells, these researchers
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