Huazhong University of Science and Technology,Huazhong University of Science and Technology,Huazhong University of Science and Technology,Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
This work was supported by a grant from The National Natural Science Foundation of China (30871225)
Calcium imaging has been widely used to monitor the activity of various neurons in C. elegans. However, it is a challenge to determine the calcium transient in a freely moving worm for two reasons. One reason is the challenge in ensuring the co-expression of the genetically encoded calcium indicator and reference fluorescent protein in the same target neurons. Another reason is the common problem with spectrum cross-talk between the fluorescent pair used most often: G-CaMPs (calcium indicator) and DsReds (the reference fluorescent protein). Spectrum cross-talk occasionally introduces artifacts in the calcium transient measurements. Herein, we developed a novel bicistronic expression strategy to ensure co-expression efficiency and simplify the labeling for the target neurons. Moreover, we presented a new fluorescent protein pair for calcium imaging, mKate2 and G-CaMPs, which have less spectrum cross-talk. We successfully tested our new labeling strategy in the C. elegans ASH sensory neuron. We anticipate that this improved technique will facilitate neural circuit studies in C. elegans.
ZHANG Hai-Ning, HUANG Wen-Ming, YANG Song, XU Tao. A Novel Bicistronic Expression Strategy for Neuronal Calcium Imaging in C. elegans[J]. Progress in Biochemistry and Biophysics,2014,41(5):515-519
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