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Genetically encoded voltage sensor goes live

Nature Biotechnology volume 31, pages 994–995 (2013)Cite this article

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A genetically encoded voltage indicator enables robust optical recording of membrane voltage changes in the fly brain.

Neurons transmit and compute signals through changes in membrane voltage. To understand how neurons compute, compete and cooperate within network ensembles, neuroscientists have long aspired to monitor such voltage changes in vivo across dense populations of genetically tagged cells in real time. In a notable advance toward this goal, published in Cell, Cao et al.1 used a recently developed, fluorescent, genetically encoded voltage indicator called ArcLight2 to directly image the electrical activity of single neurons, subcellular compartments and populations of genetically targeted neurons in the intact brain of a living fruit fly. Importantly for studies of neural computation, signals were of sufficient amplitude and signal-to-noise ratios were high enough to decipher in vivo single electrical events, such as action potentials and inhibitory (hyperpolarizing) inputs to neurons. This marks a milestone for in vivo voltage recordings using optical methods.

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Figure 1: Cao et al.1 demonstrate genetically targeted, single-trial voltage imaging in the intact brain of Drosophila in vivo.

Marina Corral Spence

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. James H. Marshel and Karl Deisseroth are both in the Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.,

    James H Marshel & Karl Deisseroth

  2. Karl Deisseroth is in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.,

    Karl Deisseroth

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  1. James H Marshel
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  2. Karl Deisseroth
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Correspondence to Karl Deisseroth.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Marshel, J., Deisseroth, K. Genetically encoded voltage sensor goes live. Nat Biotechnol 31, 994–995 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.2738

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