Matsuo Toshihiko
Department of Ophthalmology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine and Dentistry, Okayama 700-8558, Japan.
Acta Med Okayama. 2003 Oct;57(5):257-60. doi: 10.18926/AMO/32824.
Photoelectric dyes absorb light and convert photon energy to electric potentials. To test whether these dyes could be used for retinal prostheses, a simple in vitro screening system was developed. Retinal neurons were cultured from the eyes of chick embryos at the 10-day embryonic stage, at which time no retinal photoreceptor cells have yet developed. Intracellular calcium elevation was observed with Fluo-4 in cultured retinal neurons before and after photoelectric dye was applied at varying concentrations to the culture medium. Five of 7 photoelectric dyes tested in this in vitro system induced intracellular calcium elevation in cultured chick retinal neurons. The intracellular calcium elevation generated by the 5 photoelectric dyes was blocked by extracellular calcium depletion in the case of all 5 dyes, and, except for one dye, by the presence of voltage-gated calcium channel blockers. The photoelectric dyes absorbed light under an inverted microscope and stimulated retinal neurons. This simple in vitro system allows the screening of photoelectric dyes which can be used for retinal prostheses.
光电染料吸收光线并将光子能量转化为电势。为了测试这些染料是否可用于视网膜假体，开发了一种简单的体外筛选系统。视网膜神经元取自10日龄鸡胚的眼睛进行培养，此时视网膜光感受器细胞尚未发育。在向培养基中加入不同浓度的光电染料之前和之后，用Fluo-4观察培养的视网膜神经元内的钙升高情况。在这个体外系统中测试的7种光电染料中有5种在培养的鸡视网膜神经元中诱导了细胞内钙升高。对于所有5种染料，细胞外钙耗竭可阻断由这5种光电染料产生的细胞内钙升高，除了一种染料外，电压门控钙通道阻滞剂的存在也可阻断这种升高。在倒置显微镜下，光电染料吸收光线并刺激视网膜神经元。这个简单的体外系统可以筛选可用于视网膜假体的光电染料。
