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[An application of the fibered fluorescence microscopy to continuously monitor the rat cerebral neurons in vivo.] [Article in Chinese]

SHI Ying, CHEN Lu-Lan, JIANG Min^*

Institutes of Brain Science and State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to establish an approach to continuously record fluorescent signals of rat cerebral cortical neurons in vivo, using the novel system composed of fiber-optic probe and fluorescence microscopy. To visualize cortical neurons, recombinant virus vectors carrying green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene were microinjected into cerebral cortex in Sprague Dawley (SD) rats. Seven days later, imaging microprobe, composed of optical minifibers, was inserted into the microinjected region of cerebral cortex. By using the fibered fluorescence microscopy, we observed fluorescent signals of cortical neurons transfected with GFP in living animals. In the brain slices from the microinjected region, the fluorescence signals of GFP were recorded using fluorescence microscopy, which confirmed the observation of the fibered fluorescence microscopy. The novel technology established in the present study maintains physical condition of experimental animal, and meets the demands of fluorescence micro-imaging in neural tissue in vivo. Application of this technology allows a direct and rapid approach tracing fluorescent signals of neurons in living animals.

Key words: in vivo molecular imaging technology; green fluorescent protein; neurons

Received: 2012-03-12　　Accepted: 2012-03-21

Corresponding author: 姜民　　E-mail: minjiang@fudan.edu.cn

Citing This Article：

SHI Ying, CHEN Lu-Lan, JIANG Min. [An application of the fibered fluorescence microscopy to continuously monitor the rat cerebral neurons in vivo.] [Article in Chinese]. Acta Physiol Sin 2012; 64 (6): 695-699 (in Chinese with English abstract).