On Sept. 17-18th 2019 the first Scientific European Meeting for applications of optogenetics was organized by Inscopix (USA) in College de France (Paris, France), in which a Head of the Oncology Department of the Shupyk NMAPE Prof. Myasoyedov S. D. took part. The event consisted of the newest demonstrations of the method, original reports from some European countries and a poster session.
Optogenetic procedure constitutes a progressive revolutionary innovation, beginning with physiological experiment, to proceed with studying and modulation of cellular and molecular basic mechanisms. In particular, it concerns a high-speed calcium in vivo imaging for determination of neuronal and neurogenic activity of the brain cells in experimental animals.
Calcium ions play a vital role in biology of neurons, regulating various processes, such as the exocytosis of presynaptic vesicles, synaptic plasticity and gene transcription. The overall level of calcium in neurons is determined by a final ratio between the influx of calcium ions and its release through channels on the cell membrane and receptors, located along the entire body of the cell, dendritic branches and synaptic endings. Calcium concentration in the brain neurons may be increased in many times. Such a change in the intracellular calcium concentration can be detected by a fluorophore imaging, which is conjugated with the cell calcium-binding proteins or other calcium-sensitive molecules. When such a protein or molecule binds calcium, there is a change in its luminescence or fluorescence, what can be visualized using fluorescence microscopy or other optical methods. The indicators can also be endogenously expressed in cells after their genetic modification, as a result of the viral vectors introduction, or in transgenic animals. Among the latest achievements in the field of the in vivo imaging of the calcium indicators in the brain using viral vectors there is an innovative technology of the miniaturized fluorescence microscopy. With the appearance of this type of microscopy, it became possible to carry out an in vivo study of a neuronal activity, using calcium imaging in intact cells, and with various experimental effects as well. Vital microscopy has now reached a wide spread distribution in neurology, but the limitations of conventional microscopes prevents performance of a large-scale brain imaging experiments. In order to improve the availability, quality and throughput of the research to identify the neurogenesis events it is planned to use a miniature integrated fluorescence microscope with a design that allows a vital monitoring and a high-speed tracking of neural dynamics and neurogenic activity. The principles of micro-optics and semiconductor optoelectronics are forming a background for application of a miniature microscope, having a mass of 1.9 g and easily held with fingertips. In addition to creation of the dynamic high-speed images of the brain, significant expansion of a new digital applications are available now, which are provided through the miniaturized integration of a light microscope, in particular, portable diagnostics based on images and high-performance screening. Thus, the use of a vital miniature microscopy would allow initiation of a fundamentally new approach in investigation of mature functional multineuron complexes, as well as to monitor a neuronal / glial / immune activity in the cells during physiological and pathological processes.