Regular physical exercise has been shown to have numerous health benefits, including delaying and alleviating neurodegenerative diseases. However, the optimum exercise conditions and exercise-related factors that provide neuronal protection remain poorly understood. In this article, we introduce a new tool, the Acoustic Gym on a chip, created through the surface acoustic wave (SAW) microfluidic technology, to precisely control the duration and intensity of swimming exercises for model organisms. A new study demonstrates that precisely dosed swimming exercise enabled by acoustic streaming decreases neuronal loss in two different neurodegenerative disease models of Caenorhabditis elegans, a Parkinson’s disease model and a tauopathy model.
Neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease are prevalent in people over the age of 60 and are characterized by progressive and permanent loss of neurons. While exercise has been shown to delay the onset of some neurological diseases while reducing side effects in others, many patients, particularly those who are older with severe symptoms, it's possible that some workout routines may not be feasible to undertake.. Therefore, it is important to identify exercise-related factors and mechanisms so that alternative therapeutic strategies can be developed to achieve similar outcomes.
Caenorhabditis elegans is a highly effective animal model for investigating diverse neurodegenerative illnesses. Extensive research has been conducted on the age-related deterioration of several tissues and bodily processes in this organism., and it has been reported that C. elegans can gain beneficial effects from exercise through swimming in liquid. However, the current methods of exercise for C. elegans rely mainly on long-term passive swimming for several hours per day. Not only is the process relatively labor-intensive and time-consuming, but also such passive swimming exercises cannot control the exercise intensity.It is essential to have a tool that can provide consistent and controlled swimming exercises to determine the optimal exercise dosages that can improve the health of animals.
Compared to traditional methods such as mechanical agitation, chemical stimulation, or electric field stimulation, microfluidic-based devices provide a more precise and controllable method for worm exercise and offer a convenient platform for studying the effects of exercise on different aspects of worm biology, including behavior, metabolism and aging according to a 2018 study by Kyung Suk Lee.
The study introduced the Acoustic Gym, which is a microfluidics system integrated with surface acoustic wave technology that can stimulate the swimming exercises of a large number of worms at desired intensities and durations. The Acoustic Gym consists of a circular PDMS chamber filled with fluid, placed in the center between a pair of offset interdigital transducers (IDTs) deposited on a lithium niobate (LiNbO3) substrate. When activated by a radio frequency (RF) source, the surface acoustic wave (SAW) propagates along the substrate toward the PDMS chamber, inducing a clockwise rotational acoustic streaming in the fluid inside the chamber. The study demonstrated that the streaming velocity can be precisely controlled by adjusting the RF signal input power.
Using the Acoustic Gym, the study found that precisely dosed swimming exercise enabled by acoustic streaming decreases neuronal loss in two different neurodegenerative disease models of Caenorhabditis elegans, a Parkinson’s disease model and a tauopathy model. The results emphasize that having the ideal exercise conditions is crucial for protecting neurons effectively, which is a critical aspect of promoting healthy aging in older individuals.
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