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Review
. 2022 Apr 19:14:867863.
doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.867863. eCollection 2022.

The Roles of Optogenetics and Technology in Neurobiology: A Review

Wenqing Chen  1   2 , Chen Li  3 , Wanmin Liang  2 , Yunqi Li  2 , Zhuoheng Zou  2 , Yunxuan Xie  2 , Yangzeng Liao  2 , Lin Yu  2 , Qianyi Lin  2 , Meiying Huang  2 , Zesong Li  4 , Xiao Zhu  1   2
Affiliations
Review

The Roles of Optogenetics and Technology in Neurobiology: A Review

Wenqing Chen et al. Front Aging Neurosci. .

Abstract

Optogenetic is a technique that combines optics and genetics to control specific neurons. This technique usually uses adenoviruses that encode photosensitive protein. The adenovirus may concentrate in a specific neural region. By shining light on the target nerve region, the photosensitive protein encoded by the adenovirus is controlled. Photosensitive proteins controlled by light can selectively allow ions inside and outside the cell membrane to pass through, resulting in inhibition or activation effects. Due to the high precision and minimally invasive, optogenetics has achieved good results in many fields, especially in the field of neuron functions and neural circuits. Significant advances have also been made in the study of many clinical diseases. This review focuses on the research of optogenetics in the field of neurobiology. These include how to use optogenetics to control nerve cells, study neural circuits, and treat diseases by changing the state of neurons. We hoped that this review will give a comprehensive understanding of the progress of optogenetics in the field of neurobiology.

Keywords: nanoparticles; nervous system; neural circuits; neurobiology; neuron; optogenetics.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
The study of optogenetics in the field of neurons. Using optogenetics, it is possible to induce stem cell differentiation, identify cell function, and decode intercellular signaling pathways.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
The study of neural circuits by optogenetic methods. By targeting specific areas with light, specific neural circuits can be inhibited or activated, leading to behavioral changes in mice, and related neural circuits can be studied.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
To study the mechanisms of clinical diseases using optogenetics. We can introduce photosensitive proteins outside the body, or we can introduce viruses that transmit photosensitive genes, or we can shine light directly on specific areas. This can lead to changes in cell membrane pathways in the irradiated area, which can affect cell function. The related functions of organisms can be altered to study clinical diseases.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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