Nanosecond UV lasers stimulate transient Ca2+ elevations in human hNT astrocytes
Objective. Astrocytes respond to various stimuli resulting in intracellular Ca2+ signals that can propagate through organized functional networks. Recent literature calls for the development of techniques that can stimulate astrocytes in a fast and highly localized manner to emulate more closely the...
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Published in | Journal of neural engineering Vol. 14; no. 3; p. 035001 |
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Main Authors | , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
IOP Publishing
01.06.2017
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Objective. Astrocytes respond to various stimuli resulting in intracellular Ca2+ signals that can propagate through organized functional networks. Recent literature calls for the development of techniques that can stimulate astrocytes in a fast and highly localized manner to emulate more closely the characteristics of astrocytic Ca2+ signals in vivo. Approach. In this article we demonstrate, for the first time, how nanosecond UV lasers are capable of reproducibly stimulating Ca2+ transients in human hNT astrocytes. Main results. We report that laser pulses with a beam energy of 4-29 µJ generate transient increases in cytosolic Ca2+. These Ca2+ transients then propagate to adjacent astrocytes as intercellular Ca2+ waves. Significance. We propose that nanosecond laser stimulation provides a valuable tool for enabling the study of Ca2+ dynamics in human astrocytes at both a single cell and network level. Compared to previously developed techniques nanosecond laser stimulation has the advantage of not requiring loading of photo-caged or -sensitising agents, is non-contact, enables stimulation with a high spatiotemporal resolution and is comparatively cost effective. |
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Bibliography: | JNE-101505.R1 ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 1741-2560 1741-2552 |
DOI: | 10.1088/1741-2552/aa5f27 |