Miesenböck Gero, Kevrekidis Ioannis G
Department of Cell Biology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
Annu Rev Neurosci. 2005;28:533-63. doi: 10.1146/annurev.neuro.28.051804.101610.
Proteins with engineered sensitivities to light are infiltrating the biological mechanisms by which neurons generate and detect electrochemical signals. Encoded in DNA and active only in genetically specified target cells, these proteins provide selective optical interfaces for observing and controlling signaling by defined groups of neurons in functioning circuits, in vitro and in vivo. Light-emitting sensors of neuronal activity (reporting calcium increase, neurotransmitter release, or membrane depolarization) have begun to reveal how information is represented by neuronal assemblies, and how these representations are transformed during the computations that inform behavior. Light-driven actuators control the electrical activities of central neurons in freely moving animals and establish causal connections between the activation of specific neurons and the expression of particular behaviors. Anchored within mathematical systems and control theory, the combination of finely resolved optical field sensing and finely resolved optical field actuation will open new dimensions for the analysis of the connectivity, dynamics, and plasticity of neuronal circuits, and perhaps even for replacing lost--or designing novel--functionalities.
对光具有工程敏感性的蛋白质正在渗透到神经元产生和检测电化学信号的生物机制中。这些蛋白质由DNA编码，且仅在基因指定的靶细胞中具有活性，它们为观察和控制功能回路中特定神经元群的信号传递提供了选择性光学接口，无论是在体外还是体内。神经元活动的发光传感器（报告钙增加、神经递质释放或膜去极化）已开始揭示神经元集合如何表示信息，以及这些表示在指导行为的计算过程中如何转变。光驱动的致动器控制自由移动动物中枢神经元的电活动，并在特定神经元的激活与特定行为的表达之间建立因果联系。基于数学系统和控制理论，精细分辨的光场传感与精细分辨的光场驱动相结合，将为分析神经元回路的连通性、动力学和可塑性开辟新的维度，甚至可能用于替代丧失的——或设计新颖的——功能。
