Review Article

A Novel Research Technology to Explore the Mystery of Traditional Chinese Medicine: Optogenetics

Table 2

Summary of optogenetics may study of TCM Zheng.

TCM ZhengDisease or modelRelevant partsPotential mechanism

Cold syndrome/heat syndromeWhole bodyPBMCThe cold syndrome might be caused by inhibition of cells, while the heat syndrome might be caused by activation of cells.
Yin deficiency/Yang deficiencyWhole bodyBrainThe Yin deficiency might be caused by inhibition of cells, while the Yang deficiency might be caused by activation of cells.
Blood stasis syndromeCHDPBMCCircuits, cells, parts, and pathways of the heart are turned on and off to understand the pathologic index.
Kidney deficiencyNSHPAT axis/brainDifferent cells in different brain regions are activated or inhibited to figure out what is wrong with the cells and what is the pathologic circuit.
Spleen deficiencyNSBrain cortexFor ultraprecise control of the cells, we need to reveal the specific neural circuit of spleen deficiency.
Pulmonary-Qi deficiencyCOPDPBMCA highly differential pathway of pulmonary cells is shown between pulmonary-qi deficiency and healthy subjects.
Liver-qi stagnationDepressionBrainThe synapse active pathway of central and peripheral 5-HT release is pursued to expose specific brain circuit elements.

PBMC, peripheral blood mononuclear cell; CHD, coronary heart disease; HPAT, hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal-thymus; NS, nonspecific disease; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.