1. Restoring light sensitivity using tunable near-infrared sensors
- Author
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Rei K. Morikawa, Dasha Nelidova, Arnold Szabo, Botond Roska, Hendrik P. N. Scholl, Daniel Hillier, Cameron S. Cowan, Tamas Szikra, Zoltan Raics, and David Goldblum
- Subjects
Retinal degeneration ,Retinal Ganglion Cells ,Cell type ,Photic Stimulation ,Infrared Rays ,TRPV Cation Channels ,Stimulation ,02 engineering and technology ,Blindness ,03 medical and health sciences ,Transient receptor potential channel ,Mice ,medicine ,Animals ,Humans ,Ganglion cell layer ,Vision, Ocular ,030304 developmental biology ,TRPC Cation Channels ,Visual Cortex ,0303 health sciences ,Retina ,Multidisciplinary ,Nanotubes ,Light sensitivity ,Chemistry ,Retinal Degeneration ,Snakes ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,medicine.disease ,Rats ,Mice, Inbred C57BL ,Disease Models, Animal ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,HEK293 Cells ,Sensory Thresholds ,Biophysics ,Retinal Cone Photoreceptor Cells ,Evoked Potentials, Visual ,Gold ,0210 nano-technology ,Genetic Engineering - Abstract
Making blind retinas see again Photoreceptor degeneration is an important cause of blindness. Nelidova et al. used tunable, near-infrared sensors to render diseased photoreceptors light sensitive again (see the Perspective by Franke and Vlasits). Gold nanorods capable of detecting infrared light were coupled with an antibody to temperature-sensitive ion channels. When the nanorods absorbed light and converted it into heat, the coupled ion channels were gated by infrared light. In a mouse model of retinal degeneration, these ion channels were successfully targeted to cone photoreceptors, and responses to near infrared light could be detected. In the primary visual cortex, more cells responded to near-infrared stimuli in mice expressing these ion channels than in controls. By changing the length of the gold nanorods, the system could be tuned to different infrared wavelengths. Science , this issue p. 1108 ; see also p. 1057
- Published
- 2019