基因編碼的鈣傳感器將神經(jīng)記錄手段帶進(jìn)了無脊椎動物的微小大腦中,，但這種方法在脊椎動物中卻落在了傳統(tǒng)的電生理方法后面。現(xiàn)在,，Douglas Kim及其同事通過選擇性“誘變”獲得一種新的超靈敏的探針,，即GCaMP6，它在活體中的時空分辨率從果蠅到斑馬魚都有所提高,。另外,，在小鼠視皮層中，GCaMP6能可靠檢測單一動作電位和“單脊方向調(diào)整”,。GCaMP6傳感器可被用來在相隔數(shù)月的多次成像過程中對大批神經(jīng)元以及微小的突觸腔進(jìn)行成像,，從而為腦研究和鈣信號作用研究提供一個靈活的新工具。（生物谷Bioon.com）

生物谷推薦英文摘要：

Nature                  doi: 10.1038/nature12354

Ultrasensitive fluorescent proteins for imaging neuronal activity

Tsai-Wen Chen, Trevor J. Wardill, Yi Sun, Stefan R. Pulver, Sabine L. Renninger, Amy Baohan, Eric R. Schreiter, Rex A. Kerr, Michael B. Orger,  Vivek Jayaraman, Loren L. Looger, Karel Svoboda & Douglas S. Kim

Fluorescent calcium sensors are widely used to image neural activity. Using structure-based mutagenesis and neuron-based screening, we developed a family of ultrasensitive protein calcium sensors (GCaMP6) that outperformed other sensors in cultured neurons and in zebrafish, flies and mice in vivo. In layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons of the mouse visual cortex, GCaMP6 reliably detected single action potentials in neuronal somata and orientation-tuned synaptic calcium transients in individual dendritic spines. The orientation tuning of structurally persistent spines was largely stable over timescales of weeks. Orientation tuning averaged across spine populations predicted the tuning of their parent cell. Although the somata of GABAergic neurons showed little orientation tuning, their dendrites included highly tuned dendritic segments (5–40-μm long). GCaMP6 sensors thus provide new windows into the organization and dynamics of neural circuits over multiple spatial and temporal scales.