The Optogenetic Catechism

Gero Miesenböck

Abstract: An emerging set of methods enables an experimental dialogue with biological systems composed of many interacting cell types—in particular, with neural circuits in the brain. These methods are sometimes called "optogenetic" because they use light-responsive proteins ("opto-") encoded in DNA ("-genetic"). Optogenetic devices can be introduced into tissues or whole organisms by genetic manipulation and be expressed in anatomically or functionally defined groups of cells. Two kinds of devices perform complementary functions: Light-driven actuators control electrochemical signals, while light-emitting sensors report them. Actuators pose questions by delivering targeted perturbations; sensors (and other measurements) signal answers. These catechisms are beginning to yield previously unattainable insight into the organization of neural circuits, the regulation of their collective dynamics, and the causal relationships between cellular activity patterns and behavior.

Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PT, UK. E-mail: gero.miesenboeck{at}dpag.ox.ac.uk

Cardiac optogenetics.

E. Entcheva (2013)
Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 304, H1179-H1191
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Optogenetic Analysis of Neuronal Excitability during Global Ischemia Reveals Selective Deficits in Sensory Processing following Reperfusion in Mouse Cortex.

S. Chen, M. H. Mohajerani, Y. Xie, and T. H. Murphy (2012)
J. Neurosci. 32, 13510-13519
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Why flies? Inexpensive public engagement exercises to explain the value of basic biomedical research on Drosophila melanogaster.

S. R. Pulver, P. Cognigni, B. Denholm, C. Fabre, W. X. W. Gu, G. Linneweber, L. Prieto-Godino, V. Urbancic, M. Zwart, and I. Miguel-Aliaga (2011)
Advan Physiol Educ 35, 384-392
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The 64th Symposium of the Society for General Physiologists: optogenetics and superresolution microscopy take center stage.

G. C. R. Ellis-Davies and E. N. Pugh Jr. (2011)
J. Gen. Physiol. 138, 1-11
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Optogenetic photochemical control of designer K+ channels in mammalian neurons.

D. L. Fortin, T. W. Dunn, A. Fedorchak, D. Allen, R. Montpetit, M. R. Banghart, D. Trauner, J. P. Adelman, and R. H. Kramer (2011)
J Neurophysiol 106, 488-496
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Synthetic Physiology.

B. Y. Chow and E. S. Boyden (2011)
Science 332, 1508-1509
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Natural and Engineered Photoactivated Nucleotidyl Cyclases for Optogenetic Applications.

M.-H. Ryu, O. V. Moskvin, J. Siltberg-Liberles, and M. Gomelsky (2010)
J. Biol. Chem. 285, 41501-41508
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Olfactory Learning in Drosophila.

G. U. Busto, I. Cervantes-Sandoval, and R. L. Davis (2010)
Physiology 25, 338-346
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Regulation of Oligodendrocyte Differentiation and Myelination.

B. Emery (2010)
Science 330, 779-782
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Emotional and cognitive information processing: Relations to behavioral performance and hippocampal long-term potentiation in vivo during a spatial water maze training in rats.

K. Schulz and V. Korz (2010)
Learn. Mem. 17, 552-560
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Neuronal network analyses: premises, promises and uncertainties.

D. Parker (2010)
Phil Trans R Soc B 365, 2315-2328
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