IMR Press / FBL / Volume 27 / Issue 9 / DOI: 10.31083/j.fbl2709273
Open Access Original Research
Effect of Direct Current Electric Fields on Cone Like Retinal Photoreceptor Cells
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1 Department of Anatomy, Medical Theoretical Center, TU-Dresden, 01069 Dresden, Germany
2 Center and Department of Biomedical Engineering/Unicamp, 13083-872 Campinas-SP, Brazil
3 Department of Pharmacy-DIFAR, Biochemistry and Physiology Lab, University of Genoa, Via le Benedetto 16126 Genova, Italy
4 Deep Sequencing Group SFB 655, Biotechnology Center, TU-Dresden, 01069 Dresden, Germany
*Correspondence: richard.funk@tu-dresden.de (Richard H.W. Funk)
These authors contributed equally.
Dead author.
Academic Editor: Graham Pawelec
Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2022, 27(9), 273; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.fbl2709273
Submitted: 2 July 2022 | Revised: 7 September 2022 | Accepted: 19 September 2022 | Published: 29 September 2022
Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Abstract

Introduction: Studies show that electric fields are used as therapy during nerve and tissue injuries along with trans-retinal stimulation. However, cellular and molecular changes induced by such treatments remain largely unknown especially in retinal photoreceptor cells. In vitro studies show that direct current electric fields (dcEF) were known to influence cell division, polarity, shape, and motility. Here we could characterize for the first time the reactions of 661W, a retinal cone photoreceptor especially regarding organelle polarization, membrane polarization of mitochondria, O2 consumption, ATP/ADP ratio and gene expression. Methods: The 661W cells were stimulated with a constant dcEF of field strength 5 V/cm during 30 min or 5 h depending on the parameters studied. Results: In response to dcEF, the cells aligned perpendicular to the field by forming a leading edge with extended membrane protrusions towards the cathode. Using immunofluorescence and live cell imaging, we show that the cell membrane depolarized at the cathodal side. The microtubules spread into the direction of migration. Also, the microtubule organization center re-oriented into this direction. Concomitantly with the microtubules, actin filaments reorganized in an asymmetrical fashion mainly at the cathodal side. The Golgi apparatus, which is involved in many steps of actin synthesis, moved to the cathodal side. In the last 2 h of the 5 h experiment, microtubules positioned themselves at the rear (anodal side), like the nucleus. The averaged displacement of the whole cells under dcEF was 155% of control for 3 V/cm and 235% for 5 V/cm. The average speed increased by 142% and 243% respectively. Inside the cells mitochondria moved to the cathodal side, where the energy consuming producing processes take place. In this line, we measured an increase in ATP production and O2 consumption. Mitochondrial calcium was found more on the anodal side, at the site of the nucleus with its calcium delivering endoplasmic reticulum. In addition, oxymetry studies reveal an increased ATP synthesis by 115.2% and oxygen consumption by 113.3% 3 h after dcEF stimulation. An analysis of differentially expressed genes by RNA sequencing revealed an upregulation of genes involved in cellular movement, cell to cell and intracellular signaling, molecular transport, assembly and organization. Conclusions: The mechanisms found can enhance our understanding regarding the beneficial effects of EF treatment in retinal diseases.

Keywords
cell migration
polarization
retinal photoreceptor
cytoskeleton
O2 consumption
ATP production
electric fields
Figures
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