In situ electrochemical generation of nitric oxide for neuronal modulation

• Main Authors: Park, Jimin (Author), Jin, Kyoungsuk (Author), Sahasrabudhe, Atharva (Author), Chiang, Po Han (Author), Maalouf, Joseph H. (Author), Koehler, Florian (Author), Rosenfeld, Dekel (Author), Rao, Siyuan (Author), Tanaka, Tomo (Author), Khudiyev, Tural (Author), Schiffer, Zachary J. (Author), Fink, Yoel (Author), Yizhar, Ofer (Author), Manthiram, Karthish (Author), Anikeeva, Polina Olegovna (Author)
• Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering (Contributor), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Research Laboratory of Electronics (Contributor), McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT (Contributor), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemical Engineering (Contributor), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemistry (Contributor), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Contributor), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences (Contributor), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (Contributor), Simons Center for the Social Brain (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) (Contributor)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2020-07-08T15:10:04Z.
• Subjects: Article
• Online Access: Get fulltext

Understanding the function of nitric oxide, a lipophilic messenger in physiological processes across nervous, cardiovascular and immune systems, is currently impeded by the dearth of tools to deliver this gaseous molecule in situ to specific cells. To address this need, we have developed iron sulfide nanoclusters that catalyse nitric oxide generation from benign sodium nitrite in the presence of modest electric fields. Locally generated nitric oxide activates the nitric oxide-sensitive cation channel, transient receptor potential vanilloid family member 1 (TRPV1), and the latency of TRPV1-mediated Ca2+ responses can be controlled by varying the applied voltage. Integrating these electrocatalytic nanoclusters with multimaterial fibres allows nitric oxide-mediated neuronal interrogation in vivo. The in situ generation of nitric oxide in the ventral tegmental area with the electrocatalytic fibres evoked neuronal excitation in the targeted brain region and its excitatory projections. This nitric oxide generation platform may advance mechanistic studies of the role of nitric oxide in the nervous system and other organs.
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (Grant 5R01NS086804)
National Institutes of Health BRAIN Initiative (Grant 1R01MH111872)