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Ultrasensitive fluorescent proteins for imaging neuronal activity.

ABSTRACT: Fluorescent calcium sensors are widely used to image neural activity. Using structure-based mutagenesis and neuron-based screening, we developed a family of ultrasensitive protein calcium sensors (GCaMP6) that outperformed other sensors in cultured neurons and in zebrafish, flies and mice in vivo. In layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons of the mouse visual cortex, GCaMP6 reliably detected single action potentials in neuronal somata and orientation-tuned synaptic calcium transients in individual dendritic spines. The orientation tuning of structurally persistent spines was largely stable over timescales of weeks. Orientation tuning averaged across spine populations predicted the tuning of their parent cell. Although the somata of GABAergic neurons showed little orientation tuning, their dendrites included highly tuned dendritic segments (5-40-µm long). GCaMP6 sensors thus provide new windows into the organization and dynamics of neural circuits over multiple spatial and temporal scales.

SUBMITTER: Chen TW

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3777791 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Ultrasensitive fluorescent proteins for imaging neuronal activity.

Chen Tsai-Wen TW Wardill Trevor J TJ Sun Yi Y Pulver Stefan R SR Renninger Sabine L SL Baohan Amy A Schreiter Eric R ER Kerr Rex A RA Orger Michael B MB Jayaraman Vivek V Looger Loren L LL Svoboda Karel K Kim Douglas S DS

Nature 20130701 7458

Fluorescent calcium sensors are widely used to image neural activity. Using structure-based mutagenesis and neuron-based screening, we developed a family of ultrasensitive protein calcium sensors (GCaMP6) that outperformed other sensors in cultured neurons and in zebrafish, flies and mice in vivo. In layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons of the mouse visual cortex, GCaMP6 reliably detected single action potentials in neuronal somata and orientation-tuned synaptic calcium transients in individual dendritic ...[more]

PMID: 23868258

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Project description:The molecular mechanisms governing the differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs) into neuronal progenitor cells and finally into neurons are gradually being revealed. The lack of convenient means for real-time determination of the stages of differentiation of individual neural cells, however, has been hindering progress in elucidating the mechanisms. In order to be able to easily identify the stages of differentiation of neural cells, we have been attempting to establish a mouse system that would allow progression of neuronal differentiation to be visualized based on transitions between fluorescence colors by using a combination of mouse genetics and the ever-expanding repertoire of fluorescent proteins. In this study we report the initial version of such a mouse system, which we call "Color Timer." We first generated transgenic (Tg; nestin/KOr Tg) mice in which production of the fluorescent protein Kusabira-Orange (KOr) is controlled by the gene regulatory elements within the 2nd intronic enhancer of the nestin gene, which is a good marker for NSCs, so that NSCs would emit orange fluorescence upon excitation. We then confirmed by immunohistochemical and immunocytochemical analyses that the KOr fluorescence closely reflected the presence of the Nestin protein. We also confirmed by a neurosphere formation assay that the intensity of the KOr fluorescence correlated with "stemness" of the cell and it was possible to readily identify NSCs in the two neurogenic regions, namely the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus and the subventricular zone of the lateral ventricle, in the brain of adult nestin/KOr Tg mice by the orange fluorescence they emitted. We then crossed nestin/KOr mice with doublecortin-enhanced Green Fluorescent Protein Tg mice, whose immature neurons emit green fluorescence upon excitation, and it was possible to visualize the progress of NSC-to-neuron differentiation by the transition between fluorescence colors from orange to green. This two-color initial version of the "Color Timer" mouse system will provide a powerful new tool for neurogenesis research.

Dataset Information

Ultrasensitive fluorescent proteins for imaging neuronal activity.

Publications

Ultrasensitive fluorescent proteins for imaging neuronal activity.

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