Red LED light treatment promotes cognitive learning through up-regulation of trpm4 in zebrafish

May-Su You; Wen-Bin Yang; Chao-Hung Cheng; Sebastian Yu; Han-Chao Chang; Hsin-Su Yu

doi:10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2020.112073

Red LED light treatment promotes cognitive learning through up-regulation of trpm4 in zebrafish

J Photochem Photobiol B. 2020 Dec:213:112073. doi: 10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2020.112073. Epub 2020 Oct 29.

Authors

May-Su You¹, Wen-Bin Yang², Chao-Hung Cheng³, Sebastian Yu⁴, Han-Chao Chang⁵, Hsin-Su Yu⁶

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Molecular and Genomic Medicine, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan, Miaoli County 35053, Taiwan.
² Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan; National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan, Miaoli County 35053, Taiwan.
³ National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan, Miaoli County 35053, Taiwan.
⁴ Department of Dermatology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan.
⁵ Taiwan Instrument Reserach Institute, National Applied Research Laboratories, Hsinchu 30076, Taiwan.
⁶ National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan, Miaoli County 35053, Taiwan; Department of Dermatology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan. Electronic address: dermyu@nhri.org.tw.

PMID: 33186875
DOI: 10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2020.112073

Abstract

Although light emitting diodes (LEDs) are widely used in our daily lives, there is little research regarding LED light's possible effects on biological functions. We used a zebrafish animal model to investigate the long-term effects of white, blue and red LED lights on cognitive learning and memory recall. Our data suggest that these treatments had not only an impact on learning but also surprisingly long-lasting effects, particularly with regard to individuals treated with red light. The qPCR results revealed that the expression levels of trpm4, trpa1b, grin2aa and dlg4 in the skin were increased after monochromatic light treatment. Furthermore, the up-regulation of trpm4 in the brain may correlate to enhanced learning and memory following red-light treatment. Our results identify a light-based stimulation system for enhancing zebrafish learning, which has the potential to provide important insights into the relationship between LED lighting and animal behaviour.

Keywords: Cognitive learning; LED lighting; Memory; Zebrafish; trpa1b; trpm4.

MeSH terms

Animals
Brain / drug effects
Brain / metabolism
Cognition / radiation effects*
Disks Large Homolog 4 Protein / metabolism
Gene Expression / drug effects
Light
Lighting*
Mental Recall / radiation effects*
Models, Animal
Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / radiation effects
Skin / metabolism
Skin / radiation effects
TRPM Cation Channels / genetics
TRPM Cation Channels / metabolism*
Up-Regulation / radiation effects
Zebrafish
Zebrafish Proteins / genetics
Zebrafish Proteins / metabolism*

Substances

Disks Large Homolog 4 Protein
Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate
TRPM Cation Channels
Zebrafish Proteins
trpm4a protein, zebrafish