Presynaptic Calcium Measurements at Physiological Temperatures Using a New Class of Dextran-Conjugated Indicators

2004 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 591-599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Beierlein ◽  
Kyle R. Gee ◽  
Vladimir V. Martin ◽  
Wade G. Regehr

Presynaptic calcium (Capre) has been studied extensively because of its role in triggering and modulating neurotransmitter release. Although calcium regulation and calcium-driven processes can be strongly temperature dependent, technical difficulties have limited most studies of Capre to temperatures well below the physiological range. Here we assessed the use of membrane-permeant acetoxymethyl (AM) indicators and dextran-conjugated indicators for measuring Capre at physiological temperatures. A comparison of these two types of indicators loaded into parallel fibers of rat cerebellar slices revealed striking differences. AM indicators were rapidly extruded from axons and presynaptic terminals and therefore cannot be used for long-term measurements at high temperatures. In contrast, dextran-conjugated indicators were retained within parallel fibers and are therefore well suited to measuring Capre at physiological temperatures. The limited number of dextran indicators available prompted us to synthesize three new indicators that show peak emission in the red (575–600 nm). These indicators allow for simultaneous use of multiple calcium indicators that can be readily distinguished on the basis of excitation and emission wavelengths, use of excitation and emission wavelengths that are relatively insensitive to tissue autofluorescence, and measurements in systems with expression of green fluorescent protein (GFP). Thus we find that dextran-conjugated indicators are well suited to long-term recordings of Capre at physiological temperatures and that the development of new red indicators greatly extends their utility.

2016 ◽  
Vol 214 (5) ◽  
pp. 571-586 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa Herawati ◽  
Daisuke Taniguchi ◽  
Hatsuho Kanoh ◽  
Kazuhiro Tateishi ◽  
Shuji Ishihara ◽  
...  

Multiciliated cells (MCCs) promote fluid flow through coordinated ciliary beating, which requires properly organized basal bodies (BBs). Airway MCCs have large numbers of BBs, which are uniformly oriented and, as we show here, align linearly. The mechanism for BB alignment is unexplored. To study this mechanism, we developed a long-term and high-resolution live-imaging system and used it to observe green fluorescent protein–centrin2–labeled BBs in cultured mouse tracheal MCCs. During MCC differentiation, the BB array adopted four stereotypical patterns, from a clustering “floret” pattern to the linear “alignment.” This alignment process was correlated with BB orientations, revealed by double immunostaining for BBs and their asymmetrically associated basal feet (BF). The BB alignment was disrupted by disturbing apical microtubules with nocodazole and by a BF-depleting Odf2 mutation. We constructed a theoretical model, which indicated that the apical cytoskeleton, acting like a viscoelastic fluid, provides a self-organizing mechanism in tracheal MCCs to align BBs linearly for mucociliary transport.


2014 ◽  
Vol 369 (1633) ◽  
pp. 20130145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sadegh Nabavi ◽  
Rocky Fox ◽  
Stephanie Alfonso ◽  
Jonathan Aow ◽  
Roberto Malinow

We have previously shown that when over-expressed in neurons, green fluorescent protein (GFP) tagged GluA1 (GluA1-GFP) delivery into synapses is dependent on plasticity. A recent study suggests that GluA1 over-expression leads to its incorporation into the synapse, in the absence of additional long-term potentiation-like manipulations. It is possible that a GFP tag was responsible for the difference. Using rectification index as a measure of synaptic delivery of GluA1, we found no difference in the synaptic delivery of GluA1-GFP versus untagged GluA1. We recently published a study showing that while D-APV blocks NMDAr-dependent long-term depression (LTD), MK-801 and 7-chloro kynurenate (7CK) fail to block LTD. We propose a metabotropic function for the NMDA receptor in LTD induction. In contrast to our observations, recent unpublished data suggest that the above antagonists are equally effective in blocking LTD. We noticed different methodology in their study. Here, we show that their methodology has complex effects on synaptic transmission. Therefore, it is not possible to conclude that 7CK is effective in blocking LTD from their type of experiment.


RSC Advances ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (66) ◽  
pp. 38730-38734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Snizhana O. Zaitseva ◽  
Dilara A. Farkhutdinova ◽  
Nadezhda S. Baleeva ◽  
Alexander Yu. Smirnov ◽  
Marina B. Zagudaylova ◽  
...  

We design a new class of excited-state locked GFP chromophores which intrinsically exhibit a very large Stokes shift.


2000 ◽  
Vol 276 (15) ◽  
pp. 11821-11829 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henning Wellmann ◽  
Barbara Kaltschmidt ◽  
Christian Kaltschmidt

The mechanism by which signals such as those produced by glutamate are transferred to the nucleus may involve direct transport of an activated transcription factor to trigger long-term transcriptional changes. Ionotropic glutamate receptor activation or depolarization activates transcription factor NF-κB and leads to translocation of NF-κB from the cytoplasm to the nucleus. We investigated the dynamics of NF-κB translocation in living neurons by tracing the NF-κB subunit RelA (p65) with jellyfish green fluorescent protein. We found that green fluorescent protein-RelA was located in either the nucleus or cytoplasm and neurites, depending on the coexpression of the cognate inhibitor of NF-κB, IκB-α. Stimulation with glutamate, kainate, or potassium chloride resulted in a redistribution of NF-κB from neurites to the nucleus. This transport depended on an intact nuclear localization signal on RelA. Thus, in addition to its role as a transcription factor, NF-κB may be a signal transducer, transmitting transient glutamatergic signals from distant sites to the nucleus.


Blood ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 104 (11) ◽  
pp. 2111-2111
Author(s):  
Ingo H. Pilz ◽  
Manfred Schmidt ◽  
Claudia Ball ◽  
Hanno Glimm ◽  
Fritz von Weizsäcker ◽  
...  

Abstract To study transplanted unperturbed and mobilized long-term hematopoiesis after selection with an alkylating agent, bone marrow (BM) from 5 C57BL/6J mice was pooled, repeatedly transduced with retroviruses encoding the alkylating agent resistance protein O6-Methylguanine-DNA and enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) as an easily traceable marker. Between 1 to 9x105 transfected BM cells were transplanted into 15 myeloablatively irradiated sex-mismatched C57BL/6J mice. Subsequently, 3 to 4 selection rounds with BCNU/O6-BG were carried out, enriching eGFP marked hematopoiesis in these mice up to 70–90%. Between 1 and 7x107BM cells of different mice were transplanted according to marrow location into groups of 5 sex-matched Bri44[1] mice. Two mice each received BM from the hind limbs, two from the pelvis and one received cells from the spleen, only, respectively. Altogether the study comprised 15 groups divided into 6 female and 9 male groups. Of these, 4 male and 3 female groups received 3 HSC-mobilization courses with G-CSF at intervals of 2 months starting 3 month after transplantation. Hematopoiesis in the other fraction remained unperturbed. During the observation period of 11–14 months in these tertiary recipients, repeated FACS analyses as well as linear amplification mediated (LAM) PCRs were carried out to track the clonal contributions. A decrease in the percentage of eGFP expressing marked hematopoiesis was observed in most cases. However, eGFP expression never disappeared altogether and could still be detected in the different hematopoietic lineages and successfully sorted for further analyses by MoFlo (Dako-Cytomation). Assessment of the clonal status of the Bri44 by LAM-PCR displayed interesting results. In some mice a decline in clone numbers was observed, whereas clone numbers remained stable in others. Tertiary transplantation with long-term follow-up indicates that this observation may be related to the transplantation of limited long-term repopulating clone numbers and progenitor cell exhaustion over time.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua J. W. Paulin ◽  
Peter Haslehurst ◽  
Alexander D. Fellows ◽  
Wenfei Liu ◽  
Joshua D. Jackson ◽  
...  

The laying down of memory requires strong stimulation resulting in specific changes in synaptic strength and corresponding changes in size of dendritic spines. Strong stimuli can also be pathological, causing a homeostatic response, depressing and shrinking the synapse to prevent damage from too much Ca2+influx. But do all types of dendritic spines serve both of these apparently opposite functions? Using confocal microscopy in organotypic slices from mice expressing green fluorescent protein in hippocampal neurones, the size of individual spines along sections of dendrite has been tracked in response to application of tetraethylammonium. This strong stimulus would be expected to cause both a protective homeostatic response and long-term potentiation. We report separation of these functions, with spines of different sizes reacting differently to the same strong stimulus. The immediate shrinkage of large spines suggests a homeostatic protective response during the period of potential danger. In CA1, long-lasting growth of small spines subsequently occurs consolidating long-term potentiation but only after the large spines return to their original size. In contrast, small spines do not change in dentate gyrus where potentiation does not occur. The separation in time of these changes allows clear functional differentiation of spines of different sizes.


Endocrinology ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 147 (7) ◽  
pp. 3190-3195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate L. J. Ellacott ◽  
Ilia G. Halatchev ◽  
Roger D. Cone

The central melanocortin system plays a key role in the regulation of energy homeostasis. Neurons containing the peptide precursor proopiomelanocortin (POMC) are found at two sites in the brain, the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus (ARC) and the caudal region of the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS). ARC POMC neurons, which also express cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART), are known to mediate part of the response to factors regulating energy homeostasis, such as leptin and ghrelin. In contrast, the physiological role(s) of the POMC neurons in the caudal brainstem are not well characterized. However, development of a transgenic mouse expressing green fluorescent protein under the control of the POMC promoter [POMC-enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) mouse] has aided the study of these neurons. Indeed, recent studies have shown significant activation of NTS POMC-EGFP cells by the gut released satiety factor cholecystokinin (CCK). Here we show that peripheral leptin administration induces the expression of phospho-signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 immunoreactivity (pSTAT3-IR), a marker of leptin receptor signaling, in more than 50% of NTS POMC-EGFP neurons. Furthermore, these POMC-EGFP neurons comprise 30% of all pSTAT3-IR cells in the NTS. Additionally, we also show that in contrast to the ARC population, NTS POMC-EGFP neurons do not coexpress CART immunoreactivity. These data suggest that NTS POMC neurons may participate with ARC POMC cells in mediating some of the effects of leptin and thus comprise a novel cell group regulated by both long-term adipostatic signals and satiety factors such as CCK.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document