Simultaneous monitoring of three key neuronal functions in primary neuronal cultures

Gareth John Owen Evans; Michael Alan Cousin

doi:10.1016/j.jneumeth.2006.09.012

Simultaneous monitoring of three key neuronal functions in primary neuronal cultures

Gareth John Owen Evans, Michael Alan Cousin

Biology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The coupling of Ca2+ influx to synaptic vesicle (SV) recycling in nerve terminals is essential for neurotransmitter release and thus neuronal communication. Both of these parameters have been monitored using fluorescent reporter dyes such as fura-2 and FM1-43 in single central nerve terminals. However, their simultaneous monitoring has been hampered by the proximity of their fluorescence spectra, resulting in significant contamination of their signals by bleedthrough. We have developed an assay that simultaneously monitors both SV recycling and changes in intracellular free Ca2+ ([Ca2+](i)) in cultured neurons using the reporter dyes FM4-64 and fura-2AM. By monitoring both fura-2 and FM4-64 emission in the far red range, we were able to visualize functionally independent readouts of both SV recycling and [Ca2+](i) independent of fluorescence bleedthrough. We were also able to incorporate an assay of cell viability without any fluorescence bleedthrough from either fura-2 or FM4-64 signals, using the dye SYTOX Green. We propose that this assay of three key neuronal functions could be simply translated into a high content screening format for studies investigating small molecule inhibitors of these processes. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	197-205
Number of pages	9
Journal	Journal of Neuroscience Methods
Volume	160
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneumeth.2006.09.012
Publication status	Published - 15 Mar 2007

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10.1016/j.jneumeth.2006.09.012

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title = "Simultaneous monitoring of three key neuronal functions in primary neuronal cultures",

abstract = "The coupling of Ca2+ influx to synaptic vesicle (SV) recycling in nerve terminals is essential for neurotransmitter release and thus neuronal communication. Both of these parameters have been monitored using fluorescent reporter dyes such as fura-2 and FM1-43 in single central nerve terminals. However, their simultaneous monitoring has been hampered by the proximity of their fluorescence spectra, resulting in significant contamination of their signals by bleedthrough. We have developed an assay that simultaneously monitors both SV recycling and changes in intracellular free Ca2+ ([Ca2+](i)) in cultured neurons using the reporter dyes FM4-64 and fura-2AM. By monitoring both fura-2 and FM4-64 emission in the far red range, we were able to visualize functionally independent readouts of both SV recycling and [Ca2+](i) independent of fluorescence bleedthrough. We were also able to incorporate an assay of cell viability without any fluorescence bleedthrough from either fura-2 or FM4-64 signals, using the dye SYTOX Green. We propose that this assay of three key neuronal functions could be simply translated into a high content screening format for studies investigating small molecule inhibitors of these processes. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.",

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AB - The coupling of Ca2+ influx to synaptic vesicle (SV) recycling in nerve terminals is essential for neurotransmitter release and thus neuronal communication. Both of these parameters have been monitored using fluorescent reporter dyes such as fura-2 and FM1-43 in single central nerve terminals. However, their simultaneous monitoring has been hampered by the proximity of their fluorescence spectra, resulting in significant contamination of their signals by bleedthrough. We have developed an assay that simultaneously monitors both SV recycling and changes in intracellular free Ca2+ ([Ca2+](i)) in cultured neurons using the reporter dyes FM4-64 and fura-2AM. By monitoring both fura-2 and FM4-64 emission in the far red range, we were able to visualize functionally independent readouts of both SV recycling and [Ca2+](i) independent of fluorescence bleedthrough. We were also able to incorporate an assay of cell viability without any fluorescence bleedthrough from either fura-2 or FM4-64 signals, using the dye SYTOX Green. We propose that this assay of three key neuronal functions could be simply translated into a high content screening format for studies investigating small molecule inhibitors of these processes. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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