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Application of Optogenetics for Muscle Cells and Stem Cells

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Optogenetics

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 1293))

Abstract

This chapter describes the current progress of basic research, and potential therapeutic applications primarily focused on the optical manipulation of muscle cells and neural stem cells using microbial rhodopsin as a light-sensitive molecule. Since the contractions of skeletal, cardiac, and smooth muscle cells are mainly regulated through their membrane potential, several studies have been demonstrated to up- or downregulate the muscle contraction directly or indirectly using optogenetic actuators or silencers with defined stimulation patterns and intensities. Light-dependent oscillation of membrane potential also facilitates the maturation of myocytes with the development of T tubules and sarcomere structures, tandem arrays of minimum contractile units consists of contractile proteins and cytoskeletal proteins. Optogenetics has been applied to various stem cells and multipotent/pluripotent cells such as embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to generate light-sensitive neurons and to facilitate neuroscience. The chronic optical stimulation of the channelrhodopsin-expressing neural stem cells facilitates their neural differentiation. There are potential therapeutic applications of optogenetics in cardiac pacemaking, muscle regeneration/maintenance, locomotion recovery for the treatment of muscle paralysis due to motor neuron diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Optogenetics would also facilitate maturation, network integration of grafted neurons, and improve the microenvironment around them when applied to stem cells.

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Abbreviations

ALS:

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

DA:

Dopaminergic

EFS:

Electrical field stimulation

ESC:

Embryonic stem cell

fMRI:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging

iPSC:

Induced pluripotent stem cell

NSC:

Neural stem cell

OS:

Optical stimulation

SFO:

Step-function opsin

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a JSPS (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science) Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (17KK0164 and 19K12777 to TA), a National University of Singapore Start-up Grant (R-183-000-413-733 and R-185-000-363-733 to DT), Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT), Japan (15H01413, 25250001 and 15K15025 to HY), a Strategic International Collaborative Research Program (SICORP) from Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) to HY as well as Research Foundation for Opto-Science and Technology to HY.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Toshifumi Asano

  2. Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Daniel Boon Loong Teh

  3. The Institute for Solid State Physics, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Japan

    Hiromu Yawo

Authors
  1. Toshifumi Asano
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  2. Daniel Boon Loong Teh
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  3. Hiromu Yawo
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Correspondence to Hiromu Yawo .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Institute for Solid State Physics, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Japan

    Hiromu Yawo

  2. OptoBioTechnology Research Center, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Nagoya, Japan

    Hideki Kandori

  3. National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Tokyo, Japan

    Amane Koizumi

  4. Institute for Frontier Life and Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Ryoichiro Kageyama

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Asano, T., Teh, D.B.L., Yawo, H. (2021). Application of Optogenetics for Muscle Cells and Stem Cells. In: Yawo, H., Kandori, H., Koizumi, A., Kageyama, R. (eds) Optogenetics. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 1293. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8763-4_23

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