Young Paul, Feng Guoping
Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA.
Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2004 Oct;14(5):642-6. doi: 10.1016/j.conb.2004.08.007.
Increasingly sophisticated strategies for labeling cells in vivo are providing unprecedented opportunities to study neurons in living animals. Transgenic expression of genetically encoded reporters enables us to monitor changes in neuronal activity in response to sensory stimuli, and the labeling of single neurons with fluorescent proteins allows the dynamics of neuronal connectivity to be observed in transgenic animals over periods ranging from minutes to months. Advances in transient labeling techniques such as viral infection and electroporation provide a rapid means by which to analyze neuronal gene function in vivo. These new approaches to labeling, manipulating and imaging neurons in intact organisms are transforming the way in which the nervous system is studied.
越来越复杂的体内细胞标记策略为在活体动物中研究神经元提供了前所未有的机会。基因编码报告基因的转基因表达使我们能够监测神经元活动对感觉刺激的反应变化，而用荧光蛋白标记单个神经元则能在转基因动物中观察从几分钟到几个月不等时间段内神经元连接的动态变化。诸如病毒感染和电穿孔等瞬时标记技术的进展提供了一种在体内分析神经元基因功能的快速方法。这些在完整生物体中标记、操纵和成像神经元的新方法正在改变神经系统的研究方式。
