High-performance genetically targetable optical neural silencing by light-driven proton pumps

Brian Y. Chow, Xue Han, Allison S. Dobry, Xiaofeng Qian, Amy S. Chuong, Mingjie Li, Michael A. Henninger, Gabriel M. Belfort, Yingxi Lin, Patrick E. Monahan and Edward S. Boyden ()
Additional contact information
Brian Y. Chow: The MIT Media Laboratory, Synthetic Neurobiology Group
Xue Han: The MIT Media Laboratory, Synthetic Neurobiology Group
Allison S. Dobry: The MIT Media Laboratory, Synthetic Neurobiology Group
Xiaofeng Qian: The MIT Media Laboratory, Synthetic Neurobiology Group
Amy S. Chuong: The MIT Media Laboratory, Synthetic Neurobiology Group
Mingjie Li: The MIT Media Laboratory, Synthetic Neurobiology Group
Michael A. Henninger: The MIT Media Laboratory, Synthetic Neurobiology Group
Gabriel M. Belfort: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
Yingxi Lin: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
Patrick E. Monahan: The MIT Media Laboratory, Synthetic Neurobiology Group
Edward S. Boyden: The MIT Media Laboratory, Synthetic Neurobiology Group

Nature, 2010, vol. 463, issue 7277, 98-102

Abstract: Light switch for neural circuits The experimental use of microbial opsins — light-sensitive ion channels — has ushered in a revolution in neuroscience, as they make it possible to modulate the activity of genetically targeted neurons in response to exogenous light. Now, Ed Boyden and colleagues have screened archaebacteria, bacteria, plants and fungi for opsins with novel properties and have found a fundamentally new mechanism for neural control: light-driven proton pumping. Although protons are not used natively as charge carriers by neural systems, light-driven proton pumping by archaerhodopsin-3 from Halorubrum sodomense mediates powerful neural silencing in response to light. And a proton pump from the fungus Leptosphaeria maculans enables neural silencing by blue light. The use of these reagents will facilitate the shutdown of neural circuits with light as a tool for studying the role of neural circuits in behaviour and pathology.

Date: 2010
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature08652 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:463:y:2010:i:7277:d:10.1038_nature08652

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/nature08652

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().