# The Effects of Direct Current Stimulation in Adult Tissues

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, MERCED · 2020 · $307,432

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
The exogenous application of electric currents is an effective method widely used to treat a plethora of clinical
conditions and to enhance mental skills including multitasking capability and numerical cognition in healthy
humans. Despite the wide use of localized direct current stimulation (DCS) in experimental, clinical and public
settings, the molecular bases of its effects in various cell types are unknown. We seek to gain fundamental
knowledge about the effects and signals mediating DCS in adult tissues. Therefore, we focus on basic
electrophysiology research using a model system based on planarian flatworms, which is amenable to study
various DCS modalities and their effects on tissues at systemic and cellular levels. We plan to merge
molecular genetics and electrophysiology to define instructive mechanisms underlying cellular responses to
DCS. Planarians activate stem cells (SCs) called neoblasts to continually renew adult tissues and are capable
of regenerating any part of their body upon injury. Our research team developed a novel strategy based on the
external application of DCS of physiological strength to the whole planarian body. We provide compelling
evidence that it is possible to use DCS similar to the one used in humans to control collective neoblast
behavior in vivo (i.e. regulation of transcription, cell cycle, cell death, differentiation), and induce permanent
changes in adult tissue identity without using genetic or pharmacological treatments. The integration of
biophysical and genetic information may provide a paradigm shift in the way we approach SC regulation in the
adult body and by executing this project we expect to uncover mechanistic insights about this process. A major
impact of these studies will be the elucidation of basic mechanisms mediating DCS effects in the complexity of
the whole organism to enable the implementation of biomedical approaches to induce selective tissue
replacements and control cellular behavior to prevent or treat disease.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9930620
- **Project number:** 5R01GM132753-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, MERCED
- **Principal Investigator:** Nestor J Oviedo
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $307,432
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-05-16 → 2023-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9930620

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9930620, The Effects of Direct Current Stimulation in Adult Tissues (5R01GM132753-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-11 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9930620. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*