Segment-specific optogenetic stimulation in Drosophila melanogaster with linear arrays of organic light-emitting diodes.

Nat Commun

Organic Semiconductor Centre and Centre of Biophotonics, SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 9SS, UK.

Published: December 2020

Optogenetics allows light-driven, non-contact control of neural systems, but light delivery remains challenging, in particular when fine spatial control of light is required to achieve local specificity. Here, we employ organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) that are micropatterned into linear arrays to obtain precise optogenetic control in Drosophila melanogaster larvae expressing the light-gated activator CsChrimson and the inhibitor GtACR2 within their peripheral sensory system. Our method allows confinement of light stimuli to within individual abdominal segments, which facilitates the study of larval behaviour in response to local sensory input. We show controlled triggering of specific crawling modes and find that targeted neurostimulation in abdominal segments switches the direction of crawling. More broadly, our work demonstrates how OLEDs can provide tailored patterns of light for photo-stimulation of neuronal networks, with future implications ranging from mapping neuronal connectivity in cultures to targeted photo-stimulation with pixelated OLED implants in vivo.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7721879PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20013-6DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

drosophila melanogaster
8
linear arrays
8
organic light-emitting
8
light-emitting diodes
8
abdominal segments
8
segment-specific optogenetic
4
optogenetic stimulation
4
stimulation drosophila
4
melanogaster linear
4
arrays organic
4

Similar Publications

Multiple mechanisms of action for an extremely painful venom.

Curr Biol

December 2024

Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA; Gill Institute for Neuroscience, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA; Program in Neuroscience, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA. Electronic address:

Evolutionary arms races can lead to extremely specific and effective defense mechanisms, including venoms that deter predators by targeting nociceptive (pain-sensing) pathways. The venom of velvet ants (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) is notoriously painful. It has been described as "Explosive and long lasting, you sound insane as you scream.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Work in many systems has shown large-scale changes in gene expression during aging. However, many studies employ just two, arbitrarily-chosen timepoints at which to measure expression, and can only observe an increase or a decrease in expression between "young" and "old" animals, failing to capture any dynamic, non-linear changes that occur throughout the aging process. We used RNA sequencing to measure expression in male head tissue at 15 timepoints through the lifespan of an inbred strain.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The centromere effect (CE) is a meiotic phenomenon that ensures meiotic crossover suppression in pericentromeric regions. Despite being a critical safeguard against nondisjunction, the mechanisms behind the CE remain unknown. Previous studies have shown that various regions of the pericentromere, encompassing proximal euchromatin, beta and alpha heterochromatin, undergo varying levels of crossover suppression, raising the question of whether distinct mechanisms establish the CE in these different regions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The protein encoded by the gene ( ) plays an essential role in early gametogenesis by complexing with the gene product of ( ) to promote germline stem cell daughter differentiation in males and females. Here, we compared the AlphaFold2 and AlphaFold Multimer predicted structures of Bam protein and the Bam:Bgcn protein complex between , where is necessary in gametogenesis to that in , where it is not. Despite significant sequence divergence, we find very little evidence of significant structural differences in high confidence regions of the structures across the four species.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Signaling pathways play key roles in many important biological processes such as cell division, differentiation, and migration. Phosphorylation site-specific antibodies specifically target proteins phosphorylated on a given tyrosine, threonine, or serine residue. Use of phospho-specific antibodies facilitates analysis of signaling pathway regulation and activity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!