Measuring membrane voltage with fluorescent proteins.

Author: Patti J, Isacoff EY.
Conference/Journal: Cold Spring Harb Protoc.
Date published: 2013 Jul 1
Other: Volume ID: 2013 , Issue ID: 7 , Pages: 606-13 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1101/pdb.top075804 , Word Count: 125



Measuring signal transduction in large numbers of cells with high spatial and temporal resolution is fundamental to studying information processing in the nervous system. DNA-encoded sensors have an advantage in that they can be introduced into an organism noninvasively and targeted to specific brain regions, cell types, or subcellular compartments. A variety of chimeric proteins that report transmembrane voltage have been developed. The prototype sensor, FlaSh, is a green fluorescent protein fused to a voltage-sensitive K(+) channel, where voltage-dependent rearrangements in the channel induce changes in the protein's fluorescence. Subsequent sensors have refined this basic design using a monomeric voltage-sensing phosphatase domain from Ciona intestinalis and pairs of fluorescent proteins to produce a larger fluorescent signal. These sensors and their uses are discussed here.
PMID: 23818671