Improved Ratiometric Voltage-Sensitive Dyes for In-Vitro and In-Vivo Imaging of Brain Electrical Signaling

项目摘要/抽象电位测头 电压敏感染料可以应用于脑细胞和组织来研究大脑使用的电信号 才能发挥作用。荧光染料分子在显微镜下发光，并将微小的电信号转换为 光照强度发生了可测量的变化。几乎所有的神经疾病都与大脑正常状态的改变有关 电活性，并可用电压敏感染料进行研究。电致变色压敏染料 由电位法探头的创始人开发的具有极快的响应时间， 这些特征使它们成为研究大脑神经网络中的尖峰信号的理想选择。然而，电致变色 染料通常缺乏敏感度，因此很难在专业实验室外使用。 电位法探测器希望用新的染料和新的成像技术来克服这一弱点，这种技术可以 提高电压成像实验中传递的灵敏度和信息。新的体外和室内活体 电池测试分析和计算建模将允许更好地优化电压灵敏度 以最高的信噪比记录神经元的尖峰信号。快速、电致变色染料兼容 比率成像，它在活体记录中有重要的应用。如果成功，将提供 改进的、更有效的染料将使更多的研究人员能够获得电压成像 并为他们提供了更强大的工具来研究潜在的正常和 病理性的大脑功能。

Project Summary/Abstract Potentiometric Probes Voltage-sensitive dyes can be applied to brain cells and tissue to study the electrical signals used by the brain to function. The fluorescent dye molecules light up under a microscope and convert tiny electrical signals to measurable changes in light intensity. Virtually all neurological disorders involve changes in the brain’s normal electrical activity and can be studied with voltage-sensitive dyes. The electrochromic voltage-sensitive dyes developed by the founders of Potentiometric Probes have extremely fast response times, one of several features that make them ideal for studying spiking in the brain’s neuronal networks. However, electrochromic dyes typically suffer from a lack of sensitivity making them difficult to use outside specialized labs. Potentiometric Probes looks to overcome this weakness with new dyes and new imaging techniques that can boost the sensitivity and information conveyed in voltage-imaging experiments. New in-vitro and in-house live cell test assays along with computational modeling will allow better optimization of voltage-sensitivity for recording neuronal spiking with the highest possible signal-to-noise. Fast, electrochromic dyes are compatible with ratiometric imaging, which has important applications for in-vivo recordings. If successful, availability of improved, better validated dyes would make voltage imaging accessible to a much wider body of researchers and provide them with a more powerful tool for studying the electrical signals underlying normal and pathological brain function.