@article {68690, title = {Sensitivity optimization of a rhodopsin-based fluorescent voltage indicator}, journal = {Neuron}, volume = {111}, year = {2023}, month = {2023 May 17}, pages = {1547-1563}, abstract = {

The ability to optically image cellular transmembrane voltages at millisecond-timescale resolutions can offer unprecedented insight into the function of living brains in behaving animals. Here, we present a\ point mutation\ that increases the sensitivity of Ace2 opsin-based voltage indicators. We use the mutation to develop Voltron2, an improved chemigeneic voltage indicator that has a 65\% higher sensitivity to single APs and 3-fold higher sensitivity to subthreshold potentials than Voltron. Voltron2 retained the sub-millisecond kinetics and photostability of its predecessor, although with lower baseline fluorescence. In multiple\ in\ vitro\ and\ in\ vivo\ comparisons with its predecessor across multiple species, we found Voltron2 to be more sensitive to APs and subthreshold fluctuations. Finally, we used Voltron2 to study and evaluate the possible mechanisms of\ interneuron\ synchronization in the mouse hippocampus. Overall, we have discovered a generalizable mutation that significantly increases the sensitivity of Ace2 rhodopsin-based sensors, improving their voltage reporting capability.

}, issn = {08966273}, doi = {10.1016/j.neuron.2023.03.009}, url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0896627323002052}, author = {Abdelfattah, Ahmed S. and Zheng, Jihong and Singh, Amrita and Huang, Yi-Chieh and Reep, Daniel and Tsegaye, Getahun and Tsang, Arthur and Arthur, Benjamin J. and Rehorova, Monika and Olson, Carl V.L. and Shuai, Yichun and Zhang, Lixia and Fu, Tian-Ming and Milkie, Daniel E. and Moya, Maria V. and Weber, Timothy D. and Lemire, Andrew L. and Baker, Christopher A. and Falco, Natalie and Zheng, Qinsi and Grimm, Jonathan B. and Yip, Mighten C. and Walpita, Deepika and Chase, Martin and Campagnola, Luke and Murphy, Gabe J. and Wong, Allan M. and Forest, Craig R. and Mertz, Jerome and Economo, Michael N. and Turner, Glenn C. and Koyama, Minoru and Lin, Bei-Jung and Betzig, Eric and Novak, Ondrej and Lavis, Luke D. and Svoboda, Karel and Korff, Wyatt and Chen, Tsai-Wen and Schreiter, Eric R. and Hasseman, Jeremy P. and Kolb, Ilya} } @article {68561, title = {Time-tagged ticker tapes for intracellular recordings.}, journal = {Nature Biotechnology}, volume = {41}, year = {2023}, month = {2023 May 01}, pages = {631-9}, abstract = {

Recording transcriptional histories of a cell would enable deeper understanding of cellular developmental trajectories and responses to external perturbations. Here we describe an engineered protein fiber that incorporates diverse fluorescent marks during its growth to store a ticker tape-like history. An embedded HaloTag reporter incorporates user-supplied dyes, leading to colored stripes that map the growth of each individual fiber to wall clock time. A co-expressed eGFP tag driven by a promoter of interest records a history of transcriptional activation. High-resolution multi-spectral imaging on fixed samples reads the cellular histories, and interpolation of eGFP marks relative to HaloTag timestamps provides accurate absolute timing. We demonstrate recordings of doxycycline-induced transcription in HEK cells and cFos promoter activation in cultured neurons, with a single-cell absolute accuracy of 30-40 minutes over a 12-hour recording. The protein-based ticker tape design we present here could be generalized to achieve massively parallel single-cell recordings of diverse physiological modalities.

}, issn = {1546-1696}, doi = {10.1038/s41587-022-01524-7}, author = {Lin, Dingchang and Li, Xiuyuan and Moult, Eric and Park, Pojeong and Tang, Benjamin and Shen, Hao and Grimm, Jonathan B and Falco, Natalie and Jia, Bill Z and Baker, David and Lavis, Luke D and Cohen, Adam E} } @article {67244, title = {A general method to improve fluorophores using deuterated auxochromes.}, journal = {JACS Au}, volume = {1}, year = {2021}, month = {2021 May 24}, pages = {690-6}, abstract = {

Fluorescence microscopy relies on dyes that absorb and then emit photons. In addition to fluorescence, fluorophores can undergo photochemical processes that decrease quantum yield or result in spectral shifts and irreversible photobleaching. Chemical strategies that suppress these undesirable pathways{\textemdash}thereby increasing the brightness and photostability of fluorophores{\textemdash}are crucial for advancing the frontier of bioimaging. Here, we describe a general method to improve small-molecule fluorophores by incorporating deuterium into the alkylamino auxochromes of rhodamines and other dyes. This strategy increases fluorescence quantum yield, inhibits photochemically induced spectral shifts, and slows irreparable photobleaching, yielding next-generation labels with improved performance in cellular imaging experiments.

}, issn = {2691-3704}, doi = {10.1021/jacsau.1c00006}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1021/jacsau.1c00006}, author = {Grimm, Jonathan B. and Xie, Liangqi and Casler, Jason C. and Patel, Ronak and Tkachuk, Ariana N. and Falco, Natalie and Choi, Heejun and Lippincott-Schwartz, Jennifer and Brown, Timothy A. and Glick, Benjamin S. and Liu, Zhe and Lavis, Luke D.} } @article {67197, title = {The HaloTag as a general scaffold for far-red tunable chemigenetic indicators.}, journal = {Nature Chemical Biology}, year = {2021}, month = {2021 Apr 01}, abstract = {

Functional imaging using fluorescent indicators has revolutionized biology, but additional sensor scaffolds are needed to access properties such as bright, far-red emission. Here, we introduce a new platform for {\textquoteright}chemigenetic{\textquoteright} fluorescent indicators, utilizing the self-labeling HaloTag protein conjugated to environmentally sensitive synthetic fluorophores. We solve a crystal structure of HaloTag bound to a rhodamine dye ligand to guide engineering efforts to modulate the dye environment. We show that fusion of HaloTag with protein sensor domains that undergo conformational changes near the bound dye results in large and rapid changes in fluorescence output. This generalizable approach affords bright, far-red calcium and voltage sensors with highly tunable photophysical and chemical properties, which can reliably detect single action potentials in cultured neurons.

}, issn = {1552-4469}, doi = {10.1038/s41589-021-00775-w}, author = {Deo, Claire and Abdelfattah, Ahmed S and Bhargava, Hersh K and Berro, Adam J and Falco, Natalie and Farrants, Helen and Moeyaert, Benjamien and Chupanova, Mariam and Lavis, Luke D and Schreiter, Eric R} } @article {65274, title = {Bright and tunable far-red chemigenetic indicators.}, journal = {bioRxiv}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 Jan 9}, author = {Deo, Claire and Abdelfattah, Ahmed S and Bhargava, Hersh K. and Berro, Adam J. and Falco, Natalie and Moeyaert, Benjamien and Chupanova,Mariam and Lavis, Luke D and Schreiter, Eric R} } @article {65667, title = {A general method to optimize and functionalize red-shifted rhodamine dyes.}, journal = {Nature Methods}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 Jul 27}, abstract = {

Expanding the palette of fluorescent dyes is vital to push the frontier of biological imaging. Although rhodamine dyes remain the premier type of small-molecule fluorophore owing to their bioavailability and brightness, variants excited with far-red or near-infrared light suffer from poor performance due to their propensity to adopt a lipophilic, nonfluorescent form. We report a framework for rationalizing rhodamine behavior in biological environments and a general chemical modification for rhodamines that optimizes long-wavelength variants and enables facile functionalization with different chemical groups. This strategy yields red-shifted {\textquoteright}Janelia Fluor{\textquoteright} (JF) dyes useful for biological imaging experiments in cells and in vivo.

}, issn = {1548-7105}, doi = {10.1038/s41592-020-0909-6}, author = {Grimm, Jonathan B and Tkachuk, Ariana N and Xie, Liangqi and Choi, Heejun and Mohar, Boaz and Falco, Natalie and Schaefer, Kathy and Patel, Ronak and Zheng, Qinsi and Liu, Zhe and Lippincott-Schwartz, Jennifer and Brown, Timothy A and Lavis, Luke D} } @article {65176, title = {Rational design of fluorogenic and spontaneously blinking labels for super-resolution imaging.}, journal = {ACS Central Science}, volume = {5}, year = {2019}, month = {2019 Sep 25}, pages = {1602-1613}, abstract = {

Rhodamine dyes exist in equilibrium between a fluorescent zwitterion and a nonfluorescent lactone. Tuning this equilibrium toward the nonfluorescent lactone form can improve cell-permeability and allow creation of "fluorogenic" compounds-ligands that shift to the fluorescent zwitterion upon binding a biomolecular target. An archetype fluorogenic dye is the far-red tetramethyl-Si-rhodamine (SiR), which has been used to create exceptionally useful labels for advanced microscopy. Here, we develop a quantitative framework for the development of new fluorogenic dyes, determining that the lactone-zwitterion equilibrium constant () is sufficient to predict fluorogenicity. This rubric emerged from our analysis of known fluorophores and yielded new fluorescent and fluorogenic labels with improved performance in cellular imaging experiments. We then designed a novel fluorophore-Janelia Fluor 526 (JF)-with SiR-like properties but shorter fluorescence excitation and emission wavelengths. JF is a versatile scaffold for fluorogenic probes including ligands for self-labeling tags, stains for endogenous structures, and spontaneously blinking labels for super-resolution immunofluorescence. JF constitutes a new label for advanced microscopy experiments, and our quantitative framework will enable the rational design of other fluorogenic probes for bioimaging.

}, issn = {2374-7943}, doi = {10.1021/acscentsci.9b00676}, author = {Zheng, Qinsi and Ayala, Anthony X and Chung, Inhee and Weigel, Aubrey V and Ranjan, Anand and Falco, Natalie and Grimm, Jonathan B and Tkachuk, Ariana N and Wu, Carl and Lippincott-Schwartz, Jennifer and Singer, Robert H and Lavis, Luke D} }