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Imaging neuropeptide release at synapses with a genetically engineered reporter

  1. Keke Ding
  2. Yifu Han
  3. Taylor W Seid
  4. Christopher Buser
  5. Tomomi Karigo
  6. Shishuo Zhang
  7. Dion K Dickman
  8. David J Anderson  Is a corresponding author
  1. California Institute of Technology, United States
  2. University of Southern California, United States
  3. Oak Crest Institute of Science, United States
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Cite this article as: eLife 2019;8:e46421 doi: 10.7554/eLife.46421

Abstract

Research on neuropeptide function has advanced rapidly, yet there is still no spatio-temporally resolved method to measure the release of neuropeptides in vivo. Here we introduce Neuropeptide Release Reporters (NPRRs): novel genetically-encoded sensors with high temporal resolution and genetic specificity. Using the Drosophila larval neuromuscular junction (NMJ) as a model, we provide evidence that NPRRs recapitulate the trafficking and packaging of native neuropeptides, and report stimulation-evoked neuropeptide release events as real-time changes in fluorescence intensity, with sub-second temporal resolution.

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Author details

  1. Keke Ding

    Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-5261-4843

  2. Yifu Han

    Department of Neurobiology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  3. Taylor W Seid

    Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  4. Christopher Buser

    Oak Crest Institute of Science, Monrovia, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-4379-3878

  5. Tomomi Karigo

    Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  6. Shishuo Zhang

    Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  7. Dion K Dickman

    Department of Neurobiology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-1884-284X

  8. David J Anderson

    Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United States
    For correspondence
    wuwei@caltech.edu
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-6175-3872

Funding

National Institutes of Health (R21EY026432)

  • David J Anderson

National Institutes of Health (R01DA031389)

  • David J Anderson

National Institutes of Health (NS091546)

  • Dion K Dickman

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Reviewing Editor

  1. Leslie C Griffith, Brandeis University, United States

Publication history

  1. Received: February 27, 2019
  2. Accepted: June 25, 2019
  3. Accepted Manuscript published: June 26, 2019 (version 1)
  4. Version of Record published: July 4, 2019 (version 2)
  5. Version of Record updated: December 11, 2019 (version 3)

Copyright

© 2019, Ding et al.

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

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