by Zaara Abbas / May 11, 2024
Scientists have long used glowing proteins to track cellular processes, but imaging this bioluminescence deep inside the brain has remained a major challenge, until now. Researchers at MIT have developed an original new technique that allows them to precisely visualize glowing cells within the brain's depths using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
The key innovation is reprogramming the brain's blood vessels to act as light detectors. By engineering the blood vessel cells to produce an enzyme that causes the vessels to dilate in response to light, the MIT team transformed the brain's dense vascular network into a 3D camera exquisitely sensitive to bioluminescence.
When cells engineered to glow are introduced into the brain, their faint luminescence triggers dilations in the surrounding blood vessels. These dilations alter blood oxygen levels, which can then be picked up by standard MRI brain scans. The researchers liken it to using “the intrinsic ability of these techniques to image blood vessels into a means for imaging light” itself.
This breakthrough, dubbed BLUsH (bioluminescence imaging using hemodynamics), opens up vast new possibilities for studying the brain's biochemical foundation. By linking the glowing proteins to specific genes, researchers can now map how gene expression patterns shift during development, learning, and brain disorders. The glow can also reveal how neurons communicate across circuits. Moreover, as MRI is already widely used for clinical brain imaging, the MIT team's light-detecting trick could potentially be applied to human studies in the future using approved luminescent probes.
While still at an early stage, this innovative approach is shining a brilliant new light on the brain's inner workings. The MIT researchers are excited to see how BLUsH can further illuminate our understanding of the molecular marvels that give rise to thought and consciousness.
Citations:
Trafton, A. (2024, May 10). MIT’s new MRI technique reveals hidden light deep in the brain. SciTechDaily. https://scitechdaily.com/mits-new-mri-technique-reveals-hidden-light-deep-in-the-brain/
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