Paviolo Chiara, McArthur Sally L, Stoddart Paul R
Biotactical Engineering, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology, Swinburne University of Technology;
Biotactical Engineering, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology, Swinburne University of Technology.
J Vis Exp. 2015 Apr 27(98):52566. doi: 10.3791/52566.
Recent studies have demonstrated that nerves can be stimulated in a variety of ways by the transient heating associated with the absorption of infrared light by water in neuronal tissue. This technique holds great potential for replacing or complementing standard stimulation techniques, due to the potential for increased localization of the stimulus and minimization of mechanical contact with the tissue. However, optical approaches are limited by the inability of visible light to penetrate deep into tissues. Moreover, thermal modelling suggests that cumulative heating effects might be potentially hazardous when multiple stimulus sites or high laser repetition rates are used. The protocol outlined below describes an enhanced approach to the infrared stimulation of neuronal cells. The underlying mechanism is based on the transient heating associated with the optical absorption of gold nanorods, which can cause triggering of neuronal cell differentiation and increased levels of intracellular calcium activity. These results demonstrate that nanoparticle absorbers can enhance and/or replace the process of infrared neural stimulation based on water absorption, with potential for future applications in neural prostheses and cell therapies.
最近的研究表明，与神经元组织中的水吸收红外光相关的瞬态加热可以通过多种方式刺激神经。由于这种技术有可能提高刺激的定位并使与组织的机械接触最小化，因此它在替代或补充标准刺激技术方面具有巨大潜力。然而，光学方法受到可见光无法深入穿透组织的限制。此外，热模型表明，当使用多个刺激部位或高激光重复率时，累积加热效应可能具有潜在危险性。以下概述的方案描述了一种增强的神经元细胞红外刺激方法。其潜在机制基于与金纳米棒的光吸收相关的瞬态加热，这可导致神经元细胞分化的触发和细胞内钙活性水平的增加。这些结果表明，纳米颗粒吸收剂可以增强和/或替代基于水吸收的红外神经刺激过程，在神经假体和细胞治疗中具有未来应用潜力。
