Strategies for expanding the operational range of channelrhodopsin in optogenetic vision.

ABSTRACT: Some hereditary diseases, such as retinitis pigmentosa, lead to blindness due to the death of photoreceptors, though the rest of the visual system might be only slightly affected. Optogenetics is a promising tool for restoring vision after retinal degeneration. In optogenetics, light-sensitive ion channels ("channelrhodopsins") are expressed in neurons so that the neurons can be activated by light. Currently existing variants of channelrhodopsin--engineered for use in neurophysiological research--do not necessarily support the goal of vision restoration optimally, due to two factors: First, the nature of the light stimulus is fundamentally different in "optogenetic vision" compared to "optogenetic neuroscience". Second, the retinal target neurons have specific properties that need to be ac

SUBMITTER: Mutter M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3842264 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature