Abstract
We have combined millisecond activation of channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2), a light-gated ion channel, with two-photon calcium imaging to investigate active synaptic contacts in rat hippocampal slice cultures. Calcium influx was larger during light-induced action potentials than during action potentials induced by somatic current injection, leading to highly reproducible synaptic transmission. Pairing of light stimulation with postsynaptic depolarization induced long-term potentiation, making this technique ideal for genetic and pharmacological dissection of synaptic plasticity.
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Acknowledgements
We thank K. Deisseroth and G. Nagel for the ChR2-YFP construct, R.Y. Tsien and K. Svoboda for the generous gift of tdimer2 and the synapsin expression vector, D.G. Erni for excellent technical assistance, and T. Rose and A. Lüthi for critical discussions.
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Supplementary information
Supplementary Fig. 1
Light stimulation using single-photon and two-photon excitation.
Supplementary Fig. 2
Comparison of light-evoked synaptic responses and paired recordings.
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Zhang, YP., Oertner, T. Optical induction of synaptic plasticity using a light-sensitive channel. Nat Methods 4, 139–141 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth988
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth988
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