Tissue-wide
electrophysiology with single-cell and millisecond
spatiotemporal resolution is critical for heart and brain studies.
Issues arise, however, from the invasive, localized implantation of
electronics that destroys well-connected cellular networks within
matured organs. Here, we report the creation of cyborg organoids:
the three-dimensional (3D) assembly of soft, stretchable mesh nanoelectronics
across the entire organoid by the cell–cell attraction forces
from 2D-to-3D tissue reconfiguration during organogenesis. We demonstrate
that stretchable mesh nanoelectronics can migrate with and grow into
the initial 2D cell layers to form the 3D organoid structure with
minimal impact on tissue growth and differentiation. The intimate
contact between the dispersed nanoelectronics and cells enables us
to chronically and systematically observe the evolution, propagation,
and synchronization of the bursting dynamics in human cardiac organoids
through their entire organogenesis.
Using a one-channel neuromagnetometer adjusted to a special site on the mother's abdomen, we succeeded in recording prenatally, t o r the first time, human fetal brain activity in late pregnancy. It was possiblc to record both the fetal auditory-evoked neuromagnetic field and to detect fetal brain activity by analysis oi the frequency spectrum. Such measurements may soon prove valuable for the noninvasive investigation of human brain function.
Dopamine neurons of the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (ARC) tonically inhibit the release of the protein hormone prolactin from lactotropic cells in the anterior pituitary gland and thus play a central role in prolactin homeostasis of the body. Prolactin, in turn, orchestrates numerous important biological functions such as maternal behavior, reproduction, and sexual arousal. Here, we identify the canonical transient receptor potential channel Trpc5 as an essential requirement for normal function of dopamine ARC neurons and prolactin homeostasis. By analyzing female mice carrying targeted mutations in the Trpc5 gene including a conditional Trpc5 deletion, we show that Trpc5 is required for maintaining highly stereotyped infraslow membrane potential oscillations of dopamine ARC neurons. Trpc5 is also required for eliciting prolactin-evoked tonic plateau potentials in these neurons that are part of a regulatory feedback circuit. Trpc5 mutant females show severe prolactin deficiency or hypoprolactinemia that is associated with irregular reproductive cyclicity, gonadotropin imbalance, and impaired reproductive capabilities. These results reveal a previously unknown role for the cation channel Trpc5 in prolactin homeostasis of female mice and provide strategies to explore the genetic basis of reproductive disorders and other malfunctions associated with defective prolactin regulation in humans.
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