Imaging neuronal activity in the central and peripheral nervous systems using new Thy1.2-GCaMP6 transgenic mouse lines

Joseph Cichon; Jordi Magrané; Elina Shtridler; Chao Chen; Linlin Sun; Guang Yang; Wen-Biao Gan

doi:10.1016/j.jneumeth.2019.108535

Imaging neuronal activity in the central and peripheral nervous systems using new Thy1.2-GCaMP6 transgenic mouse lines

J Neurosci Methods. 2020 Jan 20:334:108535. doi: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2019.108535. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Joseph Cichon¹, Jordi Magrané², Elina Shtridler³, Chao Chen³, Linlin Sun⁴, Guang Yang⁴, Wen-Biao Gan⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Penn Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
² Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA.
³ Molecular Neurobiology Program, Skirball Institute, Department of Physiology and Neuroscience, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
⁴ Department of Anesthesiology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
⁵ Molecular Neurobiology Program, Skirball Institute, Department of Physiology and Neuroscience, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA; Department of Anesthesiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA. Electronic address: Wenbiao.Gan@nyulangone.org.

Abstract

Background: The genetically encoded calcium (Ca²⁺) sensor GCaMP6 has been widely used for imaging Ca²⁺ transients in neuronal somata, dendrites, and synapses.

New method: Here we describe five new transgenic mouse lines expressing GCaMP6F (fast) or GCaMP6S (slow) in the central and peripheral nervous system under the control of theThy1.2 promoter.

Results: These transgenic lines exhibit stable and layer-specific expression of GCaMP6 in multiple brain regions. They have several unique features compared to existing Thy1.2-GCaMP6 mice, including sparse expression of GCaMP6 in layer V pyramidal neurons of the cerebral cortex, motor neurons in the spinal cord, as well as sensory neurons in dorsal root ganglia (DRG). We further demonstrate that these mouse lines allow for robust detection of Ca²⁺ transients in neuronal somata and apical dendrites in the cerebral cortex of both anesthetized and awake behaving mice, as well as in DRG neurons.

Comparison with existing method(s): These transgenic lines allows Ca²⁺ imaging of dendrites and somas of pyramidal neurons in specific cortical layers that is difficult to achieve with existing methods.

Conclusions: These GCaMP6 transgenic lines thus provide useful tools for functional analysis of neuronal circuits in both central and peripheral nervous systems.

Keywords: Calcium imaging; Dorsal root ganglia; In vivo; Motor cortex; Somatosensory cortex; Two-photon microscopy.

Abstract

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