Spatially selective photoconductive stimulation of live neurons

Jacob Campbell, Dipika Singh, Geoffrey Hollett, Shashank M. Dravid, Michael J. Sailor, Jyothi Arikkath

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

Synaptic activity is intimately linked to neuronal structure and function. Stiirmlation of live cultured primary neurons, coupled with fluorescent indicator imaging, is a powerful technique to assess the impact of synaptic activity on neuronal protein trafficking and function. Current technology for neuronal stimulation in culture include chemical techniques or microelectrode or optogenetic based techniques. While technically powerful, chemical stimulation has limited spatial resolution and microelectrode and optogenetic techniques require specialized equipment and expertise. We report an optimized and improved technique for laser based photoconductive stimulation of live neurons using an inverted confocal microscope that overcomes these limitations. The advantages of this approach include its non-invasive nature and adaptability to temporal and spatial manipulation. We demonstrate that the technique can be manipulated to achieve spatially selective stimulation of live neurons. Coupled with live imaging of fluorescent indicators, this simple and efficient technique should allow for significant advances in neuronal cell biology.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number142
JournalFrontiers in Cellular Neuroscience
Volume8
Issue numberMAY
DOIs
StatePublished - May 21 2014

Keywords

  • Couple with live imaging
  • Non-invasive neuronal stimulation
  • Photoconductive stimulation
  • Primary neurons
  • Spatially selective stimulation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Spatially selective photoconductive stimulation of live neurons'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this