Molecular response of mitochondria to a short-duration femtosecond-laser stimulation

Abstract

The research of mitochondrial dysfunction is of great importance and implicated in a range of neurodegenerative diseases. Traditionally, to investigate mitochondrial dynamics and functions, mitochondria are usually stimulated indirectly by treating cells with exogenous chemicals like oxidative agents. Such treatment lacks precision and controllability, and will simultaneously activate unknown complex cell processes. In this study, we report that two-photon 100-μs line scan by a femtosecond laser can induce restorable fragmentation or swelling of any targeted mitochondria instead of ablation or disruption. It can be defined by a customized two-photon line scan and inserted into any microscopy sequence as a single frame. The mitochondrial response is dependent on the peak power of laser pulses, cellular oxidative environment, and membrane permeability transition pores of mitochondria. The translocation of cytochrome C and Bax can be regulated by the photostimulation. Moreover, significant upregulation of Bcl-2 can be observed if the whole cell is stimulated. Those results suggest the mitochondrial and molecular response to photostimulation is quite complex. This femtosecond-laser stimulation method can thus provide a very noninvasive, precise, and controllable method to stimulate single target mitochondria for related biological research.

Irradiance plays a significant role in photobiomodulation of B16F10 melanoma cells by increasing reactive oxygen species and inhibiting mitochondrial function

“…Since mitochondria are the primary place of ROS generation [21], we further studied the effects of three different irradiance (0.31, 0.62, 0.93 mW/cm 2 ) on mitochondrial function at the dose of 1.12 J/cm 2 . Interestingly, the results are consistent with ROS production.…”

Unleashing Precision and Freedom in Optical Manipulation: Software-Assisted Real-Time Precision Opto-Control of Intracellular Molecular Activities and Cell Functions

“…For example, optical tweezers use optical gradient forces to manipulate specific targets 1,2 . Focused pulsed lasers facilitate tasks such as cutting cell membranes for drug delivery 12,13 , disrupting mitochondria functions 14,15 , and inducing cell fusion 16,17 . However, existing manipulation platforms rely on manually delineating targets based on prior knowledge from the sample, lacking the ability for chemical-based automatic target selection, and are unsuitable for highly mobile cellular entities.…”

Photoacoustic laser effects in live mouse blastocysts: pilot safety studies of DNA damage from photoacoustic imaging doses

“…The effects of a photoacoustic laser on preimplantation embryos have not, to our knowledge, been reported. Previous studies have reported that intense lasers can induce alterations in DNA, mitochondria, spindle apparatus, as well as cell metabolism and survival (4)(5)(6)(7)(8). Yet, the laser parameters used in those studies differ significantly from the laser parameters used in photoacoustic imaging systems.…”