Tan Xiaoxuan, Zhong Yuan, Li Ruijie, Chang Chao
Innovation Laboratory of Terahertz Biophysics, National Innovation Institute of Defense Technology, Beijing 100071, China.
Astronaut Center of China, Beijing 100084, China.
Research (Wash D C). 2022 Dec 19;2022:0010. doi: 10.34133/research.0010. eCollection 2022.
Postsynaptic currents of chemical synapse are modulated by multitudinous neurotransmitters, such as acetylcholine, dopamine, glutamate, and γ-aminobutyric acid, many of which have been used in the treatment of neurological diseases. Here, based on molecular dynamics simulations and quantum chemical calculation, we propose that 30- to 45-THz photons can resonate with a variety of typical neurotransmitter molecules and make them absorb photon energy to activate the transition to high energy state, which is expected to be a new method of neural regulation. Furthermore, we verified the calculated results through experiments that THz irradiation could substantively change neuronal signal emission and enhance the frequency, amplitude, and dynamic properties of excitatory postsynaptic current and inhibitory postsynaptic current. In addition, we demonstrated the potential of neural information regulation by THz photons through 2-photon imaging in vivo. These findings are expected to improve the understanding of the physical mechanism of biological phenomena and facilitate the application of terahertz technology in neural regulation and the development of new functional materials.
化学突触的突触后电流受到多种神经递质的调节，如乙酰胆碱、多巴胺、谷氨酸和γ-氨基丁酸，其中许多已被用于治疗神经疾病。在此，基于分子动力学模拟和量子化学计算，我们提出30至45太赫兹的光子可以与多种典型神经递质分子发生共振，使其吸收光子能量以激活向高能态的转变，这有望成为一种新的神经调节方法。此外，我们通过实验验证了计算结果，即太赫兹辐射可实质性改变神经元信号发射，并增强兴奋性突触后电流和抑制性突触后电流的频率、幅度和动态特性。此外，我们通过体内双光子成像展示了太赫兹光子进行神经信息调节的潜力。这些发现有望增进对生物现象物理机制的理解，并促进太赫兹技术在神经调节中的应用以及新型功能材料的开发。
