Liu Sufang, Tang Yuanyuan, Xing Ying, Kramer Phillip, Bellinger Larry, Tao Feng
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University College of Dentistry, Dallas, TX 75246, USA.
Department of Physiology, Zhengzhou University School of Medicine, Zhengzhou 450001, China.
Brain Sci. 2019 Jan 29;9(2):26. doi: 10.3390/brainsci9020026.
Optogenetic manipulation is uniquely useful in unraveling the functional organization of neuronal circuits in the central nervous system by enabling reversible gain- or loss-of-function of discrete populations of neurons within restricted brain regions. This state-of-the-art technology can produce circuit-specific neuromodulation by overexpressing light-sensitive proteins (opsins) in particular cell types of interest. Here, we discuss the principle of optogenetic manipulation and its application in pain research using animal models, and we also discuss how to potentially use optogenetic stimulation in the treatment of migraine headache in the future.
光遗传学操作在揭示中枢神经系统神经元回路的功能组织方面具有独特的作用，它能够使受限脑区内离散神经元群体实现可逆的功能增强或功能丧失。这项前沿技术可以通过在特定感兴趣的细胞类型中过表达光敏感蛋白（视蛋白）来产生特定回路的神经调节。在这里，我们讨论光遗传学操作的原理及其在使用动物模型进行疼痛研究中的应用，并且我们还讨论了未来如何潜在地利用光遗传学刺激来治疗偏头痛。
