Over the past decade, ‘optogenetics’ has been consolidated as a game-changing tool in the neuroscience field, by allowing optical control of neuronal activity with high cell-type specificity. The ability to activate or inhibit targeted neurons at millisecond resolution not only offers an investigative tool, but potentially also provides a therapeutic intervention strategy for acute correction of aberrant neuronal activity. As efficient therapeutic tools are in short supply for neurological disorders, optogenetic technology has therefore spurred considerable enthusiasm and fostered a new wave of translational studies in neuroscience. Epilepsy is among the disorders that have been widely explored. Partial epilepsies are characterized by seizures arising from excessive excitatory neuronal activity that emerges from a focal area. Based on the constricted seizure focus, it appears feasible to intercept partial seizures by acutely shutting down excitatory neurons by means of optogenetics. The availability of both inhibitory and excitatory optogenetic probes, along with the available targeting strategies for respective excitatory or inhibitory neurons, allows multiple conceivable scenarios for controlling abnormal circuit activity. Several such scenarios have been explored in the settings of experimental epilepsy and have provided encouraging translational findings and revealed interesting and unexpected new aspects of epileptogenesis. However, it has also emerged that considerable challenges persist before clinical translation becomes feasible. This review provides a general introduction to optogenetics, and an overview of findings that are relevant for understanding how optogenetics may be utilized therapeutically as a highly innovative treatment for epilepsy.
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July 2017
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This issue of Clinical Science showcases review articles covering kidney disease, the respiratory system, neurology and oxidative stress.
Review Article|
June 30 2017
Epilepsy and optogenetics: can seizures be controlled by light?
Jan Tønnesen;
1Laboratory of Neuronal Excitability, Achucarro Basque Center for Neuroscience, Sede Building, Barrio Sarriena, s/n, 48940 Leioa, Spain
2Department of Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine and Nursing, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Barrio Sarriena, s/n, 48940 Leioa, Spain
Correspondence: Jan Tønnesen ([email protected]) or Merab Kokaia ([email protected])
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Merab Kokaia
3Experimental Epilepsy Group, Epilepsy Centre, Lund University Hospital, Sölvegatan 17, 221 84 Lund, Sweden
Correspondence: Jan Tønnesen ([email protected]) or Merab Kokaia ([email protected])
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
January 26 2017
Revision Received:
March 30 2017
Accepted:
April 13 2017
Online ISSN: 1470-8736
Print ISSN: 0143-5221
© 2017 The Author(s). Published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society
2017
Clin Sci (Lond) (2017) 131 (14): 1605–1616.
Article history
Received:
January 26 2017
Revision Received:
March 30 2017
Accepted:
April 13 2017
Citation
Jan Tønnesen, Merab Kokaia; Epilepsy and optogenetics: can seizures be controlled by light?. Clin Sci (Lond) 15 July 2017; 131 (14): 1605–1616. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/CS20160492
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