Technologies for large-scale mapping of functional neural circuits active during a user-defined time window

It's a two‐way street: Photoswitching and reversible changes of the protein matrix in photoswitchable fluorescent proteins and bacteriophytochromes

“…In a red light-regulated adenylate cyclase (AC), the diguanylate cyclase OPM of the Rhodobacter sphaeroides BphG1 was exchanged by an AC domain, which is only active as a homodimer. The study concluded that the merging positions on the PHY-OPM helix able to maintain AC dimerization and light sensitivity all kept a compatible helix register plus a [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] A distance between helices in the photoactivated state, and a > 40…”

“…These proteins are prominently used in a multitude of superresolution fluorescence microscopy techniques, for example, revealing sub-diffraction resolution composition of the cell [9] or protein-complex architecture [10]. In addition, these proteins are also used for (reversible) highlighting [11,12] or background suppression through locked-in detection of the photo-modulated sample signal [13,14]. Although photochemical changes in these proteins can lead to rearrangements of the protein matrix, these changes are often subtle and are generally not the focus of research when looking into their applications.…”

Combinatorial genetic strategies for dissecting cell lineages, cell types, and gene function in the mouse brain

“…For instance, the birthdate of a cell population can be represented by the timed activation of inducible genetic switches (e.g., CreER). Furthermore, temporal changes in neural activities can be represented by enhancers and promoters driven by neuronal activation, such as immediate‐early‐gene‐based systems or calcium‐gated transcriptional control systems (Barykina et al, 2022; Choquet et al, 2021; DeNardo & Luo, 2017).…”

Molecular tools for recording and intervention of neuronal activity

“…Expression of the same IEG in the same animal can show a varied pattern depending on the region ( Barros et al, 2015 , Chawla et al, 2018 ). Therefore, various techniques have been developed specifically for the rapid detection of neural ensemble activity, as an effort to reduce the background signal, improve time resolution and specificity, and attain consistent expression kinetics regardless of the region ( Barykina et al, 2022 , Lee et al, 2023 , Luo et al, 2018 , Wang et al, 2019 , Yamada et al, 2020 ). Currently used techniques include Calcium and Light-Induced Gene Handling Toolkit (Cal-Light) and its derivatives, which are based on triggering the influx of calcium ions in the presence of light ( Banerjee and Mitra, 2020 , Fosque et al, 2015 , Lee et al, 2017b ).…”

“…Currently used techniques include Calcium and Light-Induced Gene Handling Toolkit (Cal-Light) and its derivatives, which are based on triggering the influx of calcium ions in the presence of light ( Banerjee and Mitra, 2020 , Fosque et al, 2015 , Lee et al, 2017b ). In addition, improvement in recently developed techniques has been reported when using this light-gated gene expression system in the presence of light ( Barykina et al, 2022 , Lee et al, 2021b , Matsubara et al, 2021 ). In this study, we provide a summary of the various techniques that have been used thus far and discuss recently developed techniques based on knowledge of molecular biology and their applications.…”