Abstract
We have combined millisecond activation of channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2), a light-gated ion channel, with two-photon calcium imaging to investigate active synaptic contacts in rat hippocampal slice cultures. Calcium influx was larger during light-induced action potentials than during action potentials induced by somatic current injection, leading to highly reproducible synaptic transmission. Pairing of light stimulation with postsynaptic depolarization induced long-term potentiation, making this technique ideal for genetic and pharmacological dissection of synaptic plasticity.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Petersen, C.C., Malenka, R.C., Nicoll, R.A. & Hopfield, J.J. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95, 4732–4737 (1998).
Isaac, J.T. et al. Neuropharmacology 37, 1399–1410 (1998).
Debanne, D., Gahwiler, B.H. & Thompson, S.M. J. Neurosci. 19, 10664–10671 (1999).
Koester, H.J. & Sakmann, B. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95, 9596–9601 (1998).
Engert, F. & Bonhoeffer, T. Nature 399, 66–70 (1999).
Holthoff, K., Tsay, D. & Yuste, R. Neuron 33, 425–437 (2002).
Matsuzaki, M., Honkura, N., Ellis-Davies, G.C. & Kasai, H. Nature 429, 761–766 (2004).
Bagal, A.A., Kao, J.P., Tang, C.M. & Thompson, S.M. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102, 14434–14439 (2005).
Nagel, G. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 100, 13940–13945 (2003).
Boyden, E.S., Zhang, F., Bamberg, E., Nagel, G. & Deisseroth, K. Nat. Neurosci. 8, 1263–1268 (2005).
Campbell, R.E. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99, 7877–7882 (2002).
Ishizuka, T., Kakuda, M., Araki, R. & Yawo, H. Neurosci. Res. 54, 85–94 (2006).
Yasuda, R. et al. Sci. STKE 2004, 15 (2004).
Oertner, T.G., Sabatini, B.L., Nimchinsky, E.A. & Svoboda, K. Nat. Neurosci. 5, 657–664 (2002).
Shi, S., Hayashi, Y., Esteban, J.A. & Malinow, R. Cell 105, 331–343 (2001).
Acknowledgements
We thank K. Deisseroth and G. Nagel for the ChR2-YFP construct, R.Y. Tsien and K. Svoboda for the generous gift of tdimer2 and the synapsin expression vector, D.G. Erni for excellent technical assistance, and T. Rose and A. Lüthi for critical discussions.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Supplementary information
Supplementary Fig. 1
Light stimulation using single-photon and two-photon excitation.
Supplementary Fig. 2
Comparison of light-evoked synaptic responses and paired recordings.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhang, YP., Oertner, T. Optical induction of synaptic plasticity using a light-sensitive channel. Nat Methods 4, 139–141 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth988
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth988
- Springer Nature America, Inc.
This article is cited by
-
The plasticitome of cortical interneurons
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (2023)
-
Optogenetics at the presynapse
Nature Neuroscience (2022)
-
An Immersive Virtual Reality System for Rodents in Behavioral and Neural Research
International Journal of Automation and Computing (2021)
-
Optogenetic stimulation of the motor cortex alleviates neuropathic pain in rats of infraorbital nerve injury with/without CGRP knock-down
The Journal of Headache and Pain (2020)
-
Endoplasmic reticulum visits highly active spines and prevents runaway potentiation of synapses
Nature Communications (2020)