Optoanesthesia: Use of Anesthetic Photolabels In Vivo

Abstract

Investigation of how anesthetics produce hypnosis requires knowledge of their effects at the molecular, neuronal, circuit, and whole-brain network level. Anesthetic photolabels have long been used to explore how anesthetics bind and affect known protein targets, but they could potentially assist in investigation of anesthetic effects at higher organizational levels of the central nervous system. Here, we advocate the use and provide detailed methods for the application of anesthetic photolabels in slice electrophysiology and in intact animals as a means of investigating anesthetic effects on distinct circuits and brain centers.

Keywords: Anesthetic; EEG; Electrophysiology; In vivo; Mouse; Photolabel.

Fig. 1

Penetrance of ultraviolet light through brain tissue. 375 nm light absorbance as a function of tissue depth. A 50 mW laser was projected through varying thicknesses of murine brain tissue and the resulting decrease in power plotted.

Fig. 2

Optoanesthesia in the intact animal. The mouse is restrained for optical fiber placement and attaching the syringe pump to the venous catheter (A) and subsequently allowed to move freely in the cage (B).