Abstract
We developed infrared laser–evoked gene operator (IR-LEGO), a microscope system optimized for heating cells without photochemical damage. Infrared irradiation causes reproducible temperature shifts of the in vitro microenvironment in a power-dependent manner. When applied to living Caenorhabditis elegans, IR-LEGO induced heat shock–mediated expression of transgenes in targeted single cells in a more efficient and less deleterious manner than a 440-nm dye laser and elicited physiologically relevant phenotypic responses.
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Acknowledgements
We thank A. Fire (Stanford University), J. Hardin (University of Wisconsin), H. Kagoshima (National Institute of Genetics, Japan), Y. Kohara (National Institute of Genetics, Japan), K. Nishiwaki (Kwansei Gakuin University) and R. Tsien (University of California San Diego) for plasmids and W. Shoji (Tohoku Univeresity) for a transgenic zebrafish strain. We also thank Y. Shirasaki for helpful discussion, H. Omiya for technical advice about optics, A. Nukazuka for helping with early experiments on nematodes and Y. Oda for encouragement. mig-24(tk68) is a gift from K. Nishiwaki. This work was supported by the PRESTO and “Modelling of Innovative Research Results” research grants of Japan Science and Technology Agency, JST (S.Y.), the REIMEI Research Resources of Japan Atomic Energy Agency (Y.K.), The Sumitomo Foundation (S.T.), and grants from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (Y.K., T.T., S.T. and T.F.).
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Kamei, Y., Suzuki, M., Watanabe, K. et al. Infrared laser–mediated gene induction in targeted single cells in vivo. Nat Methods 6, 79–81 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth.1278
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth.1278
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