Optimizing optogenetics for cell-type-specific control in freely-moving primates

Active Project Grant Awarded Last action

Award ID
R01NS123054
Recipient
Awarding agency
Obligated
$6,036,937

Award facts

Completion date 91% complete
Funding
  • $5,389,887.00 Federal
  • $647,050.00 Non-federal
Place of performance
Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA

Award details come from USAspending.gov.

Description

As the agency reported it.

Abstract
Optogenetics is a revolutionary technique in neuroscience. By combining light-sensitive proteins with intracranial light delivery, optogenetics offers unprecedented, cell-type specific control over neuronal activity. The technique has become the dominant approach for studying neural circuits in small animal models such as mice and flies. Unfortunately, optogenetics has so far failed to have a major impact on research using larger animals more similar to humans, such as macaque monkeys, undermining its translational potential for human patients. We conducted a world-wide open science initiative to identify the challenges remaining to be solved in primate optogenetics (tremblay ET AL. Neuron, 2020). We identified the sheer size of the macaque monkey brain, which is 200 times bigger than the mouse brain, as well as its immune system, as the main challenges for both gene expression and light delivery. Our multidisciplinary team of investigators will overcome these obstacles by developing and optimizing three new technologies: 1) large-scale, safe delivery of ultra-sensitive opsins using gene therapy techniques; 2) chronically-implantable, ultra-thin, flexible, biocompatible led arrays; and 3) implantable, battery-powered led drivers for wireless control during unrestrained, naturalistic behavior. This approach will allow precise control of large volumes of the primate brain with cell-type specificity and millisecond resolution in monkeys free of physical restraint, thus permitting causal dissection of the neural circuits mediating natural behavior relevant for understanding and treating human brain disorders. This technology platform could be directly applied as a cell-type-specific optogenetic therapy for humans suffering from neurological disorders that affect specific neural populations, such as focal epilepsy.

Transactions

Action Federal Non-federal Date
Amendment $469,168 $0
Amendment $522,877 $0
Amendment $581,388 $0
Amendment $581,388 $0
Amendment $646,958 $0
Amendment $646,958 $0
Amendment $647,050 $0
Amendment $647,050 $647,050
Original award $647,050 $0

Subawards

Subrecipient Amount Awarded
Blackrock Microsystems, Inc. The current proposal includes a contractual agreement with Blackrock Microsystems Inc. (UT, USA). Blackrock Microsystems has extensive expertise in primate… $100,626
Universite Laval "Viral vectors for expression of optogenetic proteins will be designed and produced at the Canadian Optogenetics and Vectorology Foundry in close… $140,000
Universite Laval Viral vectors for expression of optogenetic proteins will be designed and produced at the Canadian Optogenetics and Vectorology Foundry in close collaboration… $182,158
Blackrock Microsystems, Inc. (See Attached) $107,242

Quick answers

Who received award R01NS123054?

R01NS123054 was awarded to The Trustees Of The University Of Pennsylvania by National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (National Institutes of Health) on May 15, 2022.

How much is award R01NS123054 worth?

$6,036,937 has been obligated on R01NS123054: $5,389,887 in federal funding and $647,050 in non-federal funding.

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