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Bioluminescence imaging of Arc expression enables detection of activity-dependent and plastic changes in the visual cortex of adult mice

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An Erratum to this article was published on 08 June 2011

Abstract

Induction of the activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated protein gene (Arc), one of the immediate early genes, in the brain correlates with various sensory processes, natural behaviors, and pathological conditions. Arc is also involved in synaptic plasticity during development. Thus, in vivo monitoring of Arc expression is useful for the analysis of physiological and pathological conditions in the brain. Recently, in vivo imaging of Arc expression using various green fluorescent protein-based probes has been reported; however, these probes can only be applied for the detection of fluorescence signals from superficial layers of the cortex with some autofluorescence noise. Here, we generated a novel transgenic mouse strain to monitor the neuronal-activity-dependent Arc expression using bioluminescence signals in vivo. Because of the very high sensitivity with a high signal-to-noise ratio, we detected neuronal-activity-dependent plastic changes in the bioluminescence signal intensity in the mouse visual cortex after visual deprivation, suggesting structural plasticity after peripheral lesions in adults. We also detected drastic changes in bioluminescence signals after seizure induction with kainic acid. Our novel mouse strain will be valuable for the continuous monitoring of neuronal-activity-dependent Arc expression in the brain under physiological and pathological conditions.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Zheng Li Xiang for his assistance in the initial steps of the modification of the Arc-BAC DNA. We also thank Professor Kaoru Inokuchi for help in fluorescence microscopy and Professor Yoshiaki Ohkuma for continuous encouragement. This work was supported by a grant from Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology, Japan Science and Technology Agency, and Food Safety Commission, Japan (No. 1001).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Neuroscience, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toyama, Toyama, 930-0194, Japan

    Hironori Izumi, Tetsuya Ishimoto & Hisashi Mori

  2. Division of Animal Experimental Laboratory, Life Science Research Center, University of Toyama, Toyama, 930-0194, Japan

    Hiroshi Yamamoto

  3. Department of System Emotional Science, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toyama, Toyama, 930-0194, Japan

    Hisao Nishijo

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  1. Hironori Izumi
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  2. Tetsuya Ishimoto
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  5. Hisashi Mori
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Correspondence to Hisashi Mori.

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An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00429-011-0334-9

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Izumi, H., Ishimoto, T., Yamamoto, H. et al. Bioluminescence imaging of Arc expression enables detection of activity-dependent and plastic changes in the visual cortex of adult mice. Brain Struct Funct 216, 91–104 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-010-0297-2

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