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Resources » Paper

Karen Erbguth et al. (2009) European Worm Neurobiology Meeting "Applying and combining optogenetic and imaging tools in the C.elegans nervous system."

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  • Comments on Karen Erbguth et al. (2009) European Worm Neurobiology Meeting "Applying and combining optogenetic and imaging tools in the C.elegans nervous system." (0)

  • Overview

    Status:
    Publication type:
    Meeting_abstract
    WormBase ID:
    WBPaper00035395

    Karen Erbguth, Martin Brauner, & Alexander Gottschalk (2009). Applying and combining optogenetic and imaging tools in the C.elegans nervous system presented in European Worm Neurobiology Meeting. Unpublished information; cite only with author permission.

    Stimuli are evaluated and an animal responds to them with an appropriate behavior. How behavior is guided by neuronal circuits is one of the most fascinating questions approached by neuroscience today. C. elegans provides a good model system for the investigation of neuronal networks, due to its compact nervous system and rather easy access to genetic manipulation. Most physical connections between neurons have been characterized using EM reconstruction, a big step towards an extensive elucidation of the functional connections between these neurons, e.g. by mutant studies, electrophysiology or calcium imaging, and linking them to the animals. behavior. Here we want to combine the method of calcium imaging with activity-regulating light-activated ion channels. This should provide a basic and fast method in order to facilitate an easy and widespread investigation of neuronal networks, which ideally can also be correlated to behavior. Depolarizing or hyperpolarizing neurons with light-sensitive proteins, namely channelrhodopsin or halorhodopsin, and expressing genetically encoded Ca2+ sensors (GECIs) like G-CaMPs or cameleons postsynaptically to monitor the resulting effect on neuronal activity, could be the easiest and minimally invasive way towards this. Here, different approaches in spatial and spectral separation are presented, to overcome the major limitation in combining these tools, i.e. the overlapping excitation spectra. The challenge of specific expression also is addressed within our group (see posters by Christian Schultheis and Cornelia Schmitt). To be able to test our systems in terms of functionality and to have a behavioral readout as a control, we are currently applying our techniques on testing paradigms like mini-networks consisting of just two neurons.


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