Ultra-short pulses to signal neuronal growth cone machinery

摘要

Measurable change in the sensory motor machinery of growth cones are induced by non contact femtosecond laser. The focused laser beam with an average power of 3 mW was positioned at some distance away from the closest fillopodia of cortical neurons from primary cell cultures (mice E15). By identifying a set of preliminary parameters we were able to statistically analyze the phenomenological behavior of the fillopodia and classify the effects different conditions of laser light has on the growth cone. Results show that fillopodia become significantly biased towards the focused femtosecond laser light. The same experiment performed with continuous wave (CW) produced results which were indistinguishable from the case where there is no laser light present (placebo condition) indicating no clear effects of the CW laser light on the fillopodia at a distance. These findings show the potential for ultrashort pulsed light to become a new type of pathfinding cue for neuronal growth cones.