The axon initial segment (AIS) constitutes not only the site of action potential initiation, but also a hub for activity-dependent modulation of output generation. Recent studies shedding light on AIS function used predominantly post-hoc approaches since no robust murine in vivo live reporters exist. Here, we introduce a reporter line in which the AIS is intrinsically labeled by an ankyrin-G-GFP fusion protein activated by Cre recombinase, tagging the native Ank3 gene. Using confocal, superresolution, and two-photon microscopy as well as whole-cell patch-clamp recordings in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo, we confirm that the subcellular scaffold of the AIS and electrophysiological parameters of labeled cells remain unchanged. We further uncover rapid AIS remodeling following increased network activity in this model system, as well as highly reproducible in vivo labeling of AIS over weeks. This novel reporter line allows longitudinal studies of AIS modulation and plasticity in vivo in real-time and thus provides a unique approach to study subcellular plasticity in a broad range of applications.

We established a volumetric trans-scale imaging system with an ultra-large field-of-view (FOV) that enables simultaneous observation of millions of cellular dynamics in centimeter-wide three-dimensional (3D) tissues and embryos. Using a custom-made giant lens system with a magnification of ×2 and a numerical aperture (NA) of 0.25, and a CMOS camera with more than 100 megapixels, we built a trans-scale scope AMATERAS-2, and realized fluorescence imaging with a transverse spatial resolution of approximately 1.1 µm across an FOV of approximately 1.5×1.0 cm². The 3D resolving capability was realized through a combination of optical and computational sectioning techniques tailored for our low-power imaging system. We applied the imaging technique to 1.2 cm-wide section of mouse brain, and successfully observed various regions of the brain with sub-cellular resolution in a single FOV. We also performed time-lapse imaging of a 1-cm-wide vascular network during quail embryo development for over 24 hr, visualizing the movement of over 4.0×10⁵ vascular endothelial cells and quantitatively analyzing their dynamics. Our results demonstrate the potential of this technique in accelerating production of comprehensive reference maps of all cells in organisms and tissues, which contributes to understanding developmental processes, brain functions, and pathogenesis of disease, as well as high-throughput quality check of tissues used for transplantation medicine.