Nanosecond UV lasers stimulate transient Ca(2+) elevations in human hNT astrocytes.

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Nanosecond UV lasers stimulate transient Ca(2+) elevations in human hNT astrocytes.

J Neural Eng. 2017 Mar 14;14(3):035001

Authors: Raos BJ, Graham ES, Unsworth CP

Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Astrocytes respond to various stimuli resulting in intracellular Ca(2+) 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 Ca(2+) signals in vivo.
APPROACH: In this article we demonstrate, for the first time, how nanosecond UV lasers are capable of reproducibly stimulating Ca(2+) 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 Ca(2+). These Ca(2+) transients then propagate to adjacent astrocytes as intercellular Ca(2+) waves.
SIGNIFICANCE: We propose that nanosecond laser stimulation provides a valuable tool for enabling the study of Ca(2+) 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.

PMID: 28291741 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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