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Application of Chemogenetics and Optogenetics to Dissect Brain-Immune Interactions

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Book cover Psychoneuroimmunology

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1781))

Abstract

For many years, the complexity and multifactorial nature of brain-immune interactions limited our ability to dissect their underlying mechanisms. An especially challenging question was how the brain controls immunity, since the repertoire of techniques to control the brain’s activity was extremely limited. New tools, such as optogenetics and chemogenetics (e.g., DREADDs), developed over the last decade, opened new frontiers in neuroscience with major implications for neuroimmunology. These tools enable mapping the causal effects of activating/attenuating defined neurons in the brain, on the immune system. Here, we present a detailed experimental protocol for the analysis of brain-immune interactions, based on chemogenetic or optogenetic manipulation of defined neuronal populations in the brain, and the subsequent analysis of immune cells. Such detailed and systematic dissection of brain-immune interactions has the potential to revolutionize our understanding of how mental and neurological states affect health and disease.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank S. Schwarzbaum for editing the paper, and T.L. Ben-Shaanan, M. Schiller, and H. Azulay-Debby for their help and advice. Our research is supported by the Israeli Ministry of Science, Technology & Space (MOST; 3-12070), Prince Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases , Israeli Society for Science (1862/15), the Colleck Research Fund and the ADELIS Foundation. A.R. is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute-Wellcome Trust researcher.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Immunology, Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel

    Ben Korin & Asya Rolls

  2. Department of Neuroscience, Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel

    Ben Korin & Asya Rolls

Authors
  1. Ben Korin
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  2. Asya Rolls
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Maryland University College, Adelphi, MD, PharmTao, Santa Clara, California, USA

    Qing Yan

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Korin, B., Rolls, A. (2018). Application of Chemogenetics and Optogenetics to Dissect Brain-Immune Interactions. In: Yan, Q. (eds) Psychoneuroimmunology. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1781. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7828-1_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7828-1_11

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-7827-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-7828-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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