Fluorescent sensors of molecular activity have revolutionized our knowledge of the brain. However, their signals report a reaction between the target and the sensor molecules rather than the activity of interest per se. Thus, understanding the location, sensitivity and imaging environment of a sensor should help to avoid misinterpretation of its readout.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$189.00 per year
only $15.75 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Broussard, G. J. et al. In vivo measurement of afferent activity with axon-specific calcium imaging. Nat. Neurosci. 21, 1272–1280 (2018).
Wan, J. et al. A genetically encoded sensor for measuring serotonin dynamics. Nat. Neurosci. 24, 746–752 (2021).
Sabatini, B. L. & Tian, L. Imaging neurotransmitter and neuromodulator dynamics in vivo with genetically encoded indicators. Neuron 108, 17–32 (2020).
Jing, M., Zhang, Y., Wang, H. & Li, Y. G-protein-coupled receptor-based sensors for imaging neurochemicals with high sensitivity and specificity. J. Neurochem. 151, 279–288 (2019).
Rusakov, D. A. Disentangling calcium-driven astrocyte physiology. Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 16, 226–233 (2015).
Rafi, H. & Zestos, A. G. Recent advances in FSCV detection of neurochemicals via waveform and carbon microelectrode modification. J. Electrochem. Soc. 168, 057520 (2021).
Maravall, M., Mainen, Z. F., Sabatini, B. L. & Svoboda, K. Estimating intracellular calcium concentrations and buffering without wavelength ratioing. Biophys. J. 78, 2655–2667 (2000).
Meng, G. et al. High-throughput synapse-resolving two-photon fluorescence microendoscopy for deep-brain volumetric imaging in vivo. eLife 8, e40805 (2019).
Savtchenko, L. P. et al. Disentangling astroglial physiology with a realistic cell model in silico. Nat. Commun. 9, 3554 (2018).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The author declares no competing interests.
Peer review
Peer review information
Nature Reviews Neuroscience thanks the anonymous reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rusakov, D.A. Avoiding interpretational pitfalls in fluorescence imaging of the brain. Nat Rev Neurosci 23, 705–706 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-022-00643-z
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-022-00643-z
This article is cited by
-
Avoiding bias in fluorescence sensor readout
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (2024)