Researchers have developed a "molecular light switch" for oxytocin, known as the "love hormone," with the aim of using it to study the neurochemical basis of social behavior, emotions, and mental health.
This innovation was published in the journal of the German Society for Chemists, Angewandte Chemie, and is characterized by its high accuracy, as it allows control of the oxytocin hormone at the level of individual synapses, nerve cells and neural circuits.
Professor Markus Mutenthaler of the Universities of Vienna and Queensland, the lead researcher on the project, said: "Until now, scientists have not had sufficient tools to study the effect of oxytocin without interference from neighboring brain regions. This new approach allows us to study the signaling pathways of oxytocin and its associated vasopressin in the targeted brain regions, and to understand how emotions and social behavior are formed, while distinguishing between cause and effect."
Oxytocin is responsible for a number of social functions, including trust, parental behavior, emotional regulation, empathy, learning, and memory, while disorders of its pathways are associated with conditions such as autism, anxiety, depression, addiction, schizophrenia, and psychotic disorders.
This “photoswitch” acts as a “molecular plug” via a photoprotective group that binds to the amino terminus of both oxytocin and vasopressin, and then the modified hormone is injected into the bloodstream.
Mutenthaler explained that previous research had attempted to control brain chemistry using light, but achieving precise and reliable control over oxytocin had been challenging. Now, directing a laser beam at a specific area at a precise time allows for highly accurate hormone release and real-time monitoring of neuronal responses.
He added that these tools do not produce toxic byproducts, can be activated at the single-cell level, and can be applied in tissues and models that do not allow for traditional genetic methods.
He concluded by saying that this strategy could be adapted to study other neuropeptides, making it part of a broader effort to understand the brain's information processing mechanisms.
