• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Tuesday, July 8, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Optogenetics

Optogenetics: Identifying new targets for intervention

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
December 10, 2014
in Optogenetics
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
ADVERTISEMENT
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

Optogenetics is one of the hottest tools in biomedical research today, a method that uses gene therapy to deliver light-sensitive proteins into specific cells. This new tool allows researchers to interact with a single cell or a network of cells with exquisite precision. Whereas imaging and other technologies allow researchers to watch the brain in action, optogenetics enables them to influence those actions.

optogenetics

Photo Credit: Ed Boyden’s Lab

With this innovative technique, it is now possible to record neuronal activity during and between seizures, and to test causality and identify potential new therapeutic approaches. Further research could lead to the development of new therapies that could aid more than 300,000 Americans who live with uncontrolled seizures.

A new study that will be featured at the American Epilepsy Society’s (AES) 68th Annual Meeting examines the reliability of optogenetics as a method of intervention of temporal lobe seizures, and the role the cerebellum may play in hippocampal function and seizure reduction. Researchers at the University of California Irvine utilized custom-designed software to detect and record chronic, spontaneous seizures in the hippocampus of a mouse model of temporal lobe epilepsy.

Their findings show that when brain cells in the cerebellum were activated by optogenetic lasers in the lateral cerebellar cortex, the duration of temporal lobe seizures decreased significantly. The time between seizures did not dramatically change, indicating the absence of a rebound effect. When light was instead delivered to the midline cerebellum, targeting the vermis, not only were seizures shorter, but there was a significant prolongation of the time between seizures. This reaction far outlasted the duration of the applied light, and was unique to application in the vermis. Optogenetic inhibition, rather than excitation, of brain cells in the cerebellum produced no significant effect on time to next seizure, indicating that activation of these cells is required to see this unique effect on seizure frequency.

“These findings are really exciting,” said Dr. Esther Krook-Magnuson, Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of California Irvine. “They demonstrate that two brain structures not typically thought to interact can powerfully influence each other, and that the cerebellum could be a good target for intervention in epilepsy.”

The data collected from this study shows the incredible potential for developing novel optogenetics treatments for epilepsy and provides strong support for further research.

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by American Epilepsy Society (AES).

Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

blank

Optogenetic stimulation of the brain to control pain

February 26, 2015
blank

Optogenetics makes sterile mice fertile again

January 20, 2015

Optogenetics captures neuronal transmission in live mammalian brain

December 24, 2014

Researchers envision switching a heart beat on and off with light

October 29, 2013
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • Zheng-Rong Lu

    Pancreatic Cancer Vaccines Eradicate Disease in Preclinical Studies

    75 shares
    Share 30 Tweet 19
  • Enhancing Broiler Growth: Mannanase Boosts Performance with Reduced Soy and Energy

    72 shares
    Share 29 Tweet 18
  • AI Achieves Breakthrough in Drug Discovery by Tackling the True Complexity of Aging

    69 shares
    Share 28 Tweet 17
  • New Organic Photoredox Catalysis System Boosts Efficiency, Drawing Inspiration from Photosynthesis

    54 shares
    Share 22 Tweet 14

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Microbiome Cell-Free RNA Differentiates Colorectal Cancer

Evolving Deaminase Hotspots for Precise Cytosine Editing

HIV-1 Nuclear Entry Hinges on Capsid and Pore

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.