小柯机器人

美国麻省理工学院Xuanhe Zhao，Polina Anikeeva，Siyuan Rao和Xinyue Liu共同合作，近期取得重要工作进展。他们研究开发出抗疲劳水凝胶光纤，能够在运动过程中实现周围神经光遗传学。相关研究成果2023年10月19日在线发表于《自然—方法学》杂志上。

研究人员开发了柔软且可拉伸的抗疲劳水凝胶光纤，能够在持续运动过程中对自然行为动物的外周神经进行光遗传学调节。水凝胶中聚合物纳米晶畴的形成产生具有1.07的低光学损耗的纤维 dB cm⁻¹，杨氏模量为1.6 MPa，拉伸率为200%，疲劳强度为1.4 MPa，抵抗30000次拉伸循环。

水凝胶纤维允许光传递到坐骨神经，在经历反复变形的6周自愿车轮运行试验期间，从光遗传学角度激活Thy1::ChR2小鼠的后肢肌肉。在TRPV1::NpHR小鼠的炎症模型中，纤维还能够在8周内对疼痛超敏反应进行光学抑制。

总之，这种水凝胶纤维为外周神经光遗传学提供了一种运动适应性强且稳健的解决方案，有助于体感的研究。

附：英文原文

Title: Fatigue-resistant hydrogel optical fibers enable peripheral nerve optogenetics during locomotion

Author: Liu, Xinyue, Rao, Siyuan, Chen, Weixuan, Felix, Kayla, Ni, Jiahua, Sahasrabudhe, Atharva, Lin, Shaoting, Wang, Qianbin, Liu, Yuanyuan, He, Zhigang, Xu, Jingyi, Huang, Sizhe, Hong, Eunji, Yau, Todd, Anikeeva, Polina, Zhao, Xuanhe

Issue&Volume: 2023-10-19

Abstract: We develop soft and stretchable fatigue-resistant hydrogel optical fibers that enable optogenetic modulation of peripheral nerves in naturally behaving animals during persistent locomotion. The formation of polymeric nanocrystalline domains within the hydrogels yields fibers with low optical losses of 1.07dBcm1, Young’s modulus of 1.6MPa, stretchability of 200% and fatigue strength of 1.4MPa against 30,000 stretch cycles. The hydrogel fibers permitted light delivery to the sciatic nerve, optogenetically activating hindlimb muscles in Thy1::ChR2 mice during 6-week voluntary wheel running assays while experiencing repeated deformation. The fibers additionally enabled optical inhibition of pain hypersensitivity in an inflammatory model in TRPV1::NpHR mice over an 8-week period. Our hydrogel fibers offer a motion-adaptable and robust solution to peripheral nerve optogenetics, facilitating the investigation of somatosensation.

DOI: 10.1038/s41592-023-02020-9

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41592-023-02020-9

Nature Methods：《自然—方法学》，创刊于2004年。隶属于施普林格·自然出版集团，最新IF：47.99
官方网址：https://www.nature.com/nmeth/
投稿链接：https://mts-nmeth.nature.com/cgi-bin/main.plex