Inhibitory Infrared Light Attenuates Mitochondrial Hyperactivity and Accelerates Restoration of Mitochondrial Homeostasis in an Oxygen–Glucose Deprivation/Reoxygenation Model

Ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury following stroke results in increased neuronal cell death due to mitochondrial hyperactivity. Ischemia results in loss of regulatory phosphorylations on cytochrome c oxidase (COX) and cytochrome c of the electron transport chain (ETC), priming COX for hyperactivity. During reperfusion, the ETC operates at maximal speed, resulting in hyperpolarization of the mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. We have shown that COX-inhibitory near-infrared light (IRL) provides neuroprotection in small and large animal models of brain I/R injury. IRL therapy is non-invasive and non-pharmacological and does not rely on blood flow. We identified specific wavelengths of IRL, 750 and 950 nm, that inhibit COX activity. To model the mitochondrial effects following neuronal I/R, SH-SY5Y cells underwent oxygen–glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) ± IRL applied at the time of reoxygenation. Untreated cells exhibited ΔΨm hyperpolarization, whereas IRL treated cells showed no significant difference compared to control. IRL treatment suppressed ROS production, decreased the level of cell death, and reduced the time to normalize mitochondrial activity to baseline levels from 4–5 to 2.5 h of reperfusion time. We show that IRL treatment is protective by limiting ΔΨm hyperpolarization and ROS production, and by speeding up cellular recovery.