Spatiotemporal control of gene expression or labeling is a valuable strategy for identifying functions of genes within complex neural circuits. Here, we develop a highly light-sensitive and efficient photoactivatable Flp recombinase (PA-Flp) that is suitable for genetic manipulation in vivo. The highly light-sensitive property of PA-Flp is ideal for activation in deep mouse brain regions by illumination with a noninvasive light-emitting diode. In addition, PA-Flp can be extended to the Cre-lox system through a viral vector as Flp-dependent Cre expression platform, thereby activating both Flp and Cre. Finally, we demonstrate that PA-Flp-dependent, Cre-mediated Ca3.1 silencing in the medial septum increases object-exploration behavior in mice. Thus, PA-Flp is a noninvasive, highly efficient, and easy-to-use optogenetic module that offers a side-effect-free and expandable genetic manipulation tool for neuroscience research.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6338782PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-08282-8DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

genetic manipulation
12
flp recombinase
8
deep mouse
8
mouse brain
8
brain regions
8
highly light-sensitive
8
noninvasive optical
4
optical activation
4
activation flp
4
recombinase genetic
4

Similar Publications

Breaking a barrier: In trans vlsE recombination and genetic manipulation of the native vlsE gene of the Lyme disease pathogen.

PLoS Pathog

January 2025

Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, United States of America.

Host-pathogen interactions represent a dynamic evolutionary process, wherein both hosts and pathogens continuously develop complex mechanisms to outmaneuver each other. Borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme disease pathogen, has evolved an intricate antigenic variation mechanism to evade the host immune response, enabling its dissemination, persistence, and pathogenicity. Despite the discovery of this mechanism over two decades ago, the precise processes, genetic elements, and proteins involved in this system remain largely unknown.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Triple negative breast cancers often contain higher numbers of tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes compared with other breast cancer subtypes, with their number correlating with prolonged survival. Since little is known about tumour-infiltrating lymphocyte trafficking in triple negative breast cancers, we investigated the relationship between tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes and the vascular compartment to better understand the immune tumour microenvironment in this aggressive cancer type. We aimed to identify mechanisms and signaling pathways responsible for immune cell trafficking in triple negative breast cancers, specifically of basal type, that could potentially be manipulated to change such tumours from immune "cold" to "hot" thereby increasing the likelihood of successful immunotherapy in this challenging patient population.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Unlabelled: Archaeal molecular biology has been a topic of intense research in recent decades as their role in global ecosystems, nutrient cycles, and eukaryotic evolution comes to light. The hypersaline-adapted archaeal species and serve as important model organisms for understanding archaeal genomics, genetics, and biochemistry, in part because efficient tools enable genetic manipulation. As a result, the number of strains in circulation among the haloarchaeal research community has increased in recent decades.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Genetic investigation of hydrogenases in suggests that redox balance via hydrogen cycling enables high ethanol yield.

Appl Environ Microbiol

January 2025

Centro de Engenharia Genética e Biologia Molecular (CBMEG), Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.

Unlabelled: is an anaerobic and thermophilic bacterium that has been genetically engineered for ethanol production at very high yields. However, the underlying reactions responsible for electron flow, redox equilibrium, and how they relate to ethanol production in this microbe are not fully elucidated. Therefore, we performed a series of genetic manipulations to investigate the contribution of hydrogenase genes to high ethanol yield, generating evidence for the importance of hydrogen-reacting enzymes in ethanol production.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Unlabelled: causes bacterial cold-water disease (BCWD) in salmonids and other fish, resulting in substantial economic losses in aquaculture worldwide. The mechanisms uses to cause disease are poorly understood. Despite considerable effort, most strains of have resisted attempts at genetic manipulation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!