Lee Han-Sol, Han Jin-Hee
Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST); KAIST Institute for BioCentury (KIB), Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST);
Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST); KAIST Institute for BioCentury (KIB), Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).
J Vis Exp. 2020 Aug 26(162). doi: 10.3791/61659.
In vivo real-time monitoring of neuronal activities in freely moving animals is one of key approaches to link neuronal activity to behavior. For this purpose, an in vivo imaging technique that detects calcium transients in neurons using genetically encoded calcium indicators (GECIs), a miniaturized fluorescence microscope, and a gradient refractive index (GRIN) lens has been developed and successfully applied to many brain structures . This imaging technique is particularly powerful because it enables chronic simultaneous imaging of genetically defined cell populations for a long-term period up to several weeks. Although useful, this imaging technique has not been easily applied to brain structures that locate deep within the brain such as amygdala, an essential brain structure for emotional processing and associative fear memory. There are several factors that make it difficult to apply the imaging technique to the amygdala. For instance, motion artifacts usually occur more frequently during the imaging conducted in the deeper brain regions because a head-mount microscope implanted deep in the brain is relatively unstable. Another problem is that the lateral ventricle is positioned close to the implanted GRIN lens and its movement during respiration may cause highly irregular motion artifacts that cannot be easily corrected, which makes it difficult to form a stable imaging view. Furthermore, because cells in the amygdala are usually quiet at a resting or anesthetized state, it is hard to find and focus the target cells expressing GECI in the amygdala during baseplating procedure for later imaging. This protocol provides a helpful guideline for how to efficiently target cells expressing GECI in the amygdala with head-mount miniaturized microscope for successful in vivo calcium imaging in such a deeper brain region. It is noted that this protocol is based on a particular system (e.g., Inscopix) but not restricted to it.
在自由活动动物体内实时监测神经元活动是将神经元活动与行为联系起来的关键方法之一。为此,一种利用基因编码钙指示剂(GECIs)、小型化荧光显微镜和梯度折射率(GRIN)透镜检测神经元钙瞬变的体内成像技术已被开发出来,并成功应用于许多脑结构。这种成像技术特别强大,因为它能够对基因定义的细胞群体进行长达数周的长期慢性同步成像。尽管很有用,但这种成像技术尚未轻易应用于大脑深处的脑结构,如杏仁核,它是情绪处理和联想恐惧记忆的重要脑结构。有几个因素使得将成像技术应用于杏仁核变得困难。例如,在大脑较深区域进行成像时,运动伪影通常更频繁地出现,因为植入大脑深处的头戴式显微镜相对不稳定。另一个问题是侧脑室靠近植入的GRIN透镜,其在呼吸过程中的移动可能会导致高度不规则的运动伪影,难以轻易校正,这使得难以形成稳定的成像视野。此外,由于杏仁核中的细胞在静息或麻醉状态下通常是安静的,在用于后续成像的铺板过程中,很难在杏仁核中找到并聚焦表达GECI的目标细胞。本方案为如何使用头戴式小型显微镜有效靶向杏仁核中表达GECI的细胞以在如此深的脑区域成功进行体内钙成像提供了有用的指导方针。需要注意的是,本方案基于特定系统(例如Inscopix),但不限于该系统。