Media Releases
» Go to news main麻豆传媒 medical researchers bypass nerves to activate muscles directly with light
(Halifax, Nova Scotia)鈥擭euroscience researchers at 麻豆传媒 Medical School and the Brain Repair Centre in Halifax, N.S., have shown that muscles can be activated directly with light, bypassing the nervous system and offering a potential solution to muscle-wasting and paralysis caused by nerve injuries and neurodegenerative diseases.
鈥淲e鈥檝e found we can prevent atrophy in completely dennervated muscles by shining light on them through the skin for an hour a day,鈥 says Dr. Victor Rafuse, professor in the Department of Medical Neuroscience and director of the Brain Repair Centre. 鈥淥thers have used light to successfully stimulate nerves, but we are the first to bypass the nerves and go straight to the muscles. This is vital, because the nerve tissue is completely destroyed in many injuries and in diseases like ALS, so you can鈥檛 rely on stimulating nerves to activate muscles.鈥
The very prominent scientific journal, , published the researchers鈥 findings on October 13, 2015.
To test their theory that light could be used to activate muscles directly, the research team used mouse genetics to insert a light-activated ion channel, first discovered in the single-celled aquatic organism, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, into a line of mice. This enabled their muscles to contract when stimulated with blue LED light.
鈥淥ur next step is to develop a means of delivering the light-activated ion channel directly to the muscles, without altering the genome,鈥 Dr. Rafuse says. 鈥淭hen we would have a viable therapeutic strategy for human use.鈥
For example, Dr. Rafuse suggests that the gene encoding the channel could be delivered into the hand muscles of a person with a peripheral nerve injury that has severed the nervous system鈥檚 connection to the hand. 鈥淲e see the possibility of developing a 鈥榣ight glove鈥 they could wear to prevent atrophy in those muscles and use to stimulate muscle contractions whenever they want to grasp something.鈥
This developing technology has many potential uses, including the ability to stimulate the diaphragm in people with ALS who are suffering from respiratory problems due to the loss of the motor neurons and synaptic connections that innervate their breathing muscles.
The research team included surgery resident and PhD candidate, Dr. Philippe Magown, masters student Basavaraj Shettar, and assistant professor of Medical Neuroscience, Dr. Ying Zhang, in addition to Dr. Rafuse.
-30-
Media contacts
Melanie Jollymore
melaniejollymore@eastlink.ca
902-827-3126听听听听听听听
Cory Burris
cory.burris@dal.ca
902-494-4247
听
Images
Drs. Victor Rafuse and Ying Zhang are part of the 麻豆传媒 team that discovered a light-activated pathway to restoring muscle function. |
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听
Comments
Recent News
- Media opportunity: Researchers at 麻豆传媒 to explore whether cannabis alters the brains of teenagers and is linked to psychotic鈥憀ike experiences
- Media release: Porn鈥檚 new program 鈥 Dal legal scholar鈥檚 new book focuses on the shift to algorithms and legal frameworks to tame them
- Media release: Seniors in New Brunswick improved their sleep, reduced dependence on sleeping pills with the help of educational packages mailed directly to their homes: 麻豆传媒 research
- Media opportunity: Digging deep: 麻豆传媒 researchers will use historic funding to develop national soil data inventory and online soil portal for farmers, foresters and policy makers
- Media opportunity: Land surface temperatures substantially warmer for 50 years following wildfires, despite cooler winter temperatures: 麻豆传媒 research
- Media release: New collaborative project aims to restore Nova Scotian seagrass meadows with the help of local communities
- Media Release 鈥 Six 麻豆传媒 students receive Canada鈥檚 largest science, technology, engineering and math scholarship
- Media opportunity: 麻豆传媒 researchers develop environmentally friendly, lower鈥慶ost process to make materials for EV batteries