Bioelectromagnetic platform for stimulation

Abstract

Magnetogenetics is a new field that utilizes electromagnetic fields to remotely control cellular activity. In addition to the development of the biological genetic tools, this approach requires designing hardware with a specific set of demands for the electromagnets used to provide the desired stimulation for electrophysiology and imaging experiments. Here we present a universal stimulus delivery system comprised of four magnet designs compatible with electrophysiology, fluorescence and luminescence imaging, microscopy, and freely behaving animal experiments. The overall system includes a low-cost stimulation controller which enables rapid switching between active and sham stimulation trials as well as precise control of stimulation delivery.

Proposed three-phenylalanine motif involved in magnetoreception signaling of an Actinopterygii protein expressed in mammalian cells

“…3); HeLa cells were grown in 35 mm tissue culture dishes and stimulated with a custom electromagnetic air-core coil that fits a 35 mm dish in its center. 19 The coil utilizes double wrapped copper wires that allow for both active and sham stimuli to be produced. The active stimulus is produced when current is run in the same direction in both wires.…”

“…The sham stimulus is produced when current is run in opposite directions; this anti-parallel configuration cancels the formation of a magnetic field. 19 The sham is an ideal control in this case because the sample is still subjected to the heat and electricity associated with the magnet, without the magnetic field. 5,20 Cells were stimulated using a pulse pattern and fluorescence of GCaMP6m was observed for the duration of the experiment using a GFP filter to yield a video such as Video S1.…”

“…This period lasts about 1 second at the beginning and 1 second at the end of each of the 4 pulses. 19 CD59 is another member of the Ly6/uPAR family and is ubiquitously expressed in human tissue. It is a GPI anchored protein known to act as an inhibitor of the formation of the membrane attack complex (MAC).…”

A putative design for the electromagnetic activation of split proteins for molecular and cellular manipulation

“…For IVIS (Perkin Elmer) imaging, 25 uL of cells or cell lysate were added to the 96-well plate, followed by 150 uL of LB broth with 5 uM h-CTZ. Then, 15 min after the addition of h-CTZ, IVIS images were captured using a 1 s exposure time with an open emission filter and an F stop of 1, which allowed us to capture an image every 10 s. After 2 min of imaging, an electromagnetic coil (35 mTesla field strength) surrounding the 96-well plate (Ashbaugh et al, 2021) was turned on, and samples were placed under electromagnetic stimulation for a 2 min period at which the magnet was turned off and images were captured for another 6 min. Images were analyzed using the Living Image software (Perkin Elmer).…”