Overview and History of Developmental Bioelectricity
– Developmental bioelectricity is a sub-discipline of biology that involves the regulation of cell, tissue, and organ-level patterning and behavior by electrical signals.
– It functions in processes such as embryogenesis, regeneration, and cancer suppression.
– Developmental bioelectricity began in the 18th century with studies on muscle contractions and the discovery of animal electricity.
– Research in the late 20th century expanded the understanding of bioelectric signaling in limb development, regeneration, embryogenesis, organ polarity, and wound healing.
Membrane Potential and Bioelectric Signals
– The plasma membrane enables the generation of a differential voltage gradient through ion channels, pumps, exchangers, and transporters.
– Stimuli or membrane barrier breaking can lead to the diffusion or leakage of ions, generating electric currents and fields.
– Endogenous bioelectric signals are produced by ion channels, pumps, and transporters.
– Bioelectrical distributions act as instructive influences over cell behavior and large-scale patterning.
Applications and Study Techniques
– Bioelectric control mechanisms are important for advances in regenerative medicine, birth defects, cancer, and synthetic bioengineering.
– Understanding bioelectricity can lead to new approaches in tissue regeneration and the development of novel therapies.
– The gold standard techniques for studying bioelectricity include the glass microelectrode, vibrating voltage probe, and vibrating ion-selective microelectrode.
– Emerging optic-based techniques, like the pH optrode, may provide alternative options for bioelectricity studies.
Electrodes and Fluorescence
– Glass microelectrodes and silver electrodes are commonly used for studying bioelectricity.
– Vibrating probes and vibrating ion-selective microelectrodes are more recent technologies for measuring potential difference and ion concentration.
– Fluorescence techniques, such as voltage-sensitive dyes and genetically encoded indicators, allow for high-resolution investigation of bioelectric pathways.
Roles in Organisms and Channelopathies
– Bioelectric signaling plays a role in the development of organs such as the heart, face, eye, brain, and fin.
– Mutations in ion channels can lead to developmental abnormalities and syndromes.
– In utero exposure to certain anti-epileptic medications targeting ion channels increases the incidence of birth defects.
– Endogenous electric fields are utilized during wound healing, and manipulating electric fields can enhance or inhibit limb regeneration. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioelectricity
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Developmental bioelectricity is the regulation of cell, tissue, and organ-level patterning and behavior by electrical signals during the development of embryonic animals and plants. The charge carrier in developmental bioelectricity is the ion (a charged atom) rather than the electron, and an electric current and field is generated whenever a net ion flux occurs. Cells and tissues of all types use flows of ions to communicate electrically. Endogenous electric currents and fields, ion fluxes, and differences in resting potential across tissues comprise a signalling system. It functions along with biochemical factors, transcriptional networks, and other physical forces to regulate cell behaviour and large-scale patterning in processes such as embryogenesis, regeneration, and cancer suppression.
