Shedding Light on the Role of Glia in Autism Spectrum Disorders(ASD) via Multifunctional Fibers

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K15337
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 51010:Basic brain sciences-related
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: Guo Yuanyuan 東北大学, 学際科学フロンティア研究所, 助教 (60815992)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-03-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: chemical sensing / pH microscope / multifunctional fibers / ASD

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The cells -neurons and glial cells- inside of our brain communicate via chemicals as their languages, however we are far away from understanding it, to unravel the complexity of the brain in health and disease. Here we developed a new type of brain implants based on flexible and multimodal fibers for reading brain chemicals. In addition to the conventional electrical recording and optical delivery capabilities, we stretched the functional boundary of fiber-based neural probes with the multiplexed sensing of intrinsic brain chemical signals, such as pH. Such probe is based on a multimodal fiber coupled with biochemical imaging sensors - light-addressable potentiometric sensor (LAPS).
Such effort in innovating fiber-based chemical sensing may open new possibilities of a new class of in vivo multiplexed chemical sensing and imaging technologies, allowing for investigating intrinsic chemical signals in vivo with behaviors in unprecedented details.

Free Research Field

医工学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

新規開発したオールインワンプローブ型のイオン可視化ツールは、多機能ファイバとバイオセンサを組み合わせ ることにより、多機能ファイバ本来の機能にイオンイメージング機能を付与し、ファイバや半導体センサ単体だ けでは実現できない飛躍的な機能を集積した発明になります。この pH 可視化プローブを利用し、世界で初め て、脳深部において、細胞や組織を蛍光標識することなく、pH 変化をリアルタイムで可視化することに成功し ました。 本研究で開発したイオン可視化ツールは、斬新な脳機能研究を発展させることができ、これまでに解明されてな い病気の原因や治療法の研究において重要な貢献になると考えています。