Volume 6 Issue 12, December 2009

This photograph of an Arabidopsis thaliana (thale cress) anther took first place in the 2009 Nikon Small World photomicrography competition. The image was taken by Heiti Paves of Tallinn University of Technology in Tallinn, Estonia using a confocal microscope at ×20 magnification. Other images from this year's competition are on display at http://www.nikonsmallworld.com/.

Editorial

Enlightened neuroscience

Neuroscience methods are undergoing a dramatic change owing to improvements in optical probes, but standardized evaluation procedures would aid probe development and uptake.

Editorial 01 Dec 2009

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Correspondence

Cell culture medium affects GFP photostability: a solution

Alexey M Bogdanov
Ekaterina A Bogdanova
Konstantin A Lukyanov
Correspondence 01 Dec 2009
Recurated protein interaction datasets

Lukasz Salwinski
Luana Licata
Henning Hermjakob
Correspondence 01 Dec 2009

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Research Highlights

When ChIA PETs meet Hi-C

Two methods enable the drawing of genome-wide chromatin interaction maps: one looks at protein-independent folding principles, the other at protein-mediated functional interactions.

Nicole Rusk
Research Highlights 01 Dec 2009
Many routes to pluripotency

Researchers observe that cells of the post-implantation mouse epiblast can revert to an embryonic stem cell–like state without the addition of exogenous genes.

Natalie de Souza
Research Highlights 01 Dec 2009
Looking for a reaction

New chemical microarrays capture a comprehensive snapshot of the various enzymatic activities contained within a biological sample.

Michael Eisenstein
Research Highlights 01 Dec 2009
News in brief

Research Highlights 01 Dec 2009
Seeing in the dark

An imaging platform based on stimulated emission helps researchers to lead nonfluorescent chromophores out of the shadows.

Michael Eisenstein
Research Highlights 01 Dec 2009
Scattering gold

Gold nanoparticles are used to monitor caspase activity at the single-molecule level in living cells.

Natalie de Souza
Research Highlights 01 Dec 2009

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News & Views

Lighting up neural networks using a new generation of genetically encoded calcium sensors

Christian D Wilms
Michael Häusser
News & Views 01 Dec 2009
Use of microRNA sponges to explore tissue-specific microRNA functions in vivo

Stephen M Cohen
News & Views 01 Dec 2009

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Article

Imaging neural activity in worms, flies and mice with improved GCaMP calcium indicators

An improved version of the GCaMP genetically encoded calcium indicator, called GCaMP3, has higher calcium affinity and increased baseline fluorescence, dynamic range and stability. GCaMP3 performs better than existing genetically encoded calcium indicators in several assays and organisms, including in vivo imaging of neuronal signaling in worms, flies and mice.

Lin Tian
S Andrew Hires
Loren L Looger

Collection:

Fluorescent protein biosensors
Article 08 Nov 2009
A genetically encoded reporter of synaptic activity in vivo

Fusion of the genetically-encoded calcium indicator GCaMP2 to synaptophysin localizes the sensor to neuron presynaptic terminals and conveys linear responsiveness over a wider range of spike frequencies. The sensor allowed measurement of synaptic activity caused by spiking as well as graded voltage signals during in vivo imaging in zebrafish.

Elena Dreosti
Benjamin Odermatt
Leon Lagnado
Article 08 Nov 2009
Optical interrogation of neural circuits in Caenorhabditis elegans

Neuronal stimulation with channelrhodopsin-2 is combined with calcium fluorescence imaging to study neural connections in intact Caenorhabditis elegans.

Zengcai V Guo
Anne C Hart
Sharad Ramanathan
Article 08 Nov 2009
Transgenic microRNA inhibition with spatiotemporal specificity in intact organisms

Tissue-specific expression of microRNA sponges allows precise regulation of microRNA activity in living flies. The authors investigate the role of miR-8 in the formation of neuromuscular junctions in detail.

Carlos M Loya
Cecilia S Lu
Tudor A Fulga
Article 15 Nov 2009
Cell stimulation with optically manipulated microsources

Microsources positioned with holographic optical tweezers can establish a highly localized, three-dimensional chemical gradient that allows the manipulation of polarization and migration in single cells.

Holger Kress
Jin-Gyu Park
Eric R Dufresne

Collection:

Nobel Prize in Physics 2018
Article 15 Nov 2009
Automated high-throughput mapping of promoter-enhancer interactions in zebrafish embryos

Methods for automated fluorescence imaging allow high-throughput examination of reporter expression patterns in zebrafish embryos. They are applied to mapping promoter-enhancer interactions in this organism.

Jochen Gehrig
Markus Reischl
Ferenc Müller
Article 08 Nov 2009
An auxin-based degron system for the rapid depletion of proteins in nonplant cells

A degradation pathway found in plants, dependent on the hormone auxin, can be transplanted and harnessed to induce rapid and reversible target protein degradation in both yeast and animal cells.

Kohei Nishimura
Tatsuo Fukagawa
Masato Kanemaki
Article 15 Nov 2009
High-speed nanoscopic tracking of the position and orientation of a single virus

A combination of scattering interferometry and single-molecule fluorescence microscopy allows visualization of both the position and orientation of single Simian virus 40 particles on lipid bilayers and provides evidence of viral interaction with receptors in membrane nanodomains.

Philipp Kukura
Helge Ewers
Vahid Sandoghdar
Article 01 Nov 2009

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Technology Feature

GPCRs: insane in the membrane

They are the quintessential drug target—but the dynamic structures and highly elaborate mechanisms of G protein–coupled receptors continue to keep experts in both industry and academia on their toes.

Michael Eisenstein
Technology Feature 01 Dec 2009