Astrocyte sensitivity to pulsed infrared light: molecular, physiological, and mechanistic insights (Conference Presentation)

We have shown previously that astrocytes are independently sensitive to IR exposure in the context of infrared neural stimulation (INS). More recently, our advances have identified some physiological basis of astrocytic sensitivity to INS. Single pulse INS evokes intracellular calcium signaling primarily mediated through inositol-triphosphate receptor (IP¬3R) activation, rather than thermally sensitive transient receptor protein (TRP) pathways. Interestingly, different dosing strategies for IR appear to evoke different physiology. Our findings suggest that tailoring irradiation parameters with INS may be used for preferentially drive separate physiological responses in astrocytes, and possibly other cell types.