Monitoring brain activity with protein voltage and calcium sensors

Sci Rep. 2015 May 13:5:10212. doi: 10.1038/srep10212.

Abstract

Understanding the roles of different cell types in the behaviors generated by neural circuits requires protein indicators that report neural activity with high spatio-temporal resolution. Genetically encoded fluorescent protein (FP) voltage sensors, which optically report the electrical activity in distinct cell populations, are, in principle, ideal candidates. Here we demonstrate that the FP voltage sensor ArcLight reports odor-evoked electrical activity in the in vivo mammalian olfactory bulb in single trials using both wide-field and 2-photon imaging. ArcLight resolved fast odorant-responses in individual glomeruli, and distributed odorant responses across a population of glomeruli. Comparisons between ArcLight and the protein calcium sensors GCaMP3 and GCaMP6f revealed that ArcLight had faster temporal kinetics that more clearly distinguished activity elicited by individual odorant inspirations. In contrast, the signals from both GCaMPs were a saturating integral of activity that returned relatively slowly to the baseline. ArcLight enables optical electrophysiology of mammalian neuronal population activity in vivo.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Action Potentials
  • Animals
  • Biosensing Techniques*
  • Brain / physiology*
  • Calcium / metabolism*
  • Dependovirus / genetics
  • Female
  • Gene Expression
  • Genetic Vectors / administration & dosage
  • Genetic Vectors / genetics
  • Mice
  • Microscopy, Fluorescence
  • Molecular Imaging
  • Odorants
  • Olfactory Bulb / physiology
  • Transgenes

Substances

  • Calcium