Crossref journal-article
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (341)
Abstract

It is becoming increasingly clear that single cortical neurons encode complex and behaviorally relevant signals, but efficient means to study gene functions in small networks and single neurons in vivo are still lacking. Here, we establish a method for genetic manipulation and subsequent phenotypic analysis of individual cortical neurons in vivo . First, lentiviral vectors are used for neuron-specific gene delivery from α-calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II or Synapsin I promoters, optionally in combination with gene knockdown by means of U6 promoter-driven expression of short-interfering RNAs. Second, the phenotypic analysis at the level of single cortical cells is carried out by using two-photon microscopy-based techniques: high-resolution two-photon time-lapse imaging is used to monitor structural dynamics of dendritic spines and axonal projections, whereas cellular response properties are analyzed electrophysiologically by two-photon microscopydirected whole-cell recordings. This approach is ideally suited for analysis of gene functions in individual neurons in the intact brain.

Bibliography

Dittgen, T., Nimmerjahn, A., Komai, S., Licznerski, P., Waters, J., Margrie, T. W., Helmchen, F., Denk, W., Brecht, M., & Osten, P. (2004). Lentivirus-based genetic manipulations of cortical neurons and their optical and electrophysiological monitoring in vivo. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 101(52), 18206–18211.

Authors 10
  1. Tanjew Dittgen (first)
  2. Axel Nimmerjahn (additional)
  3. Shoji Komai (additional)
  4. Pawel Licznerski (additional)
  5. Jack Waters (additional)
  6. Troy W. Margrie (additional)
  7. Fritjof Helmchen (additional)
  8. Winfried Denk (additional)
  9. Michael Brecht (additional)
  10. Pavel Osten (additional)
Dates
Type When
Created 20 years, 8 months ago (Dec. 17, 2004, 8:17 p.m.)
Deposited 3 years, 4 months ago (April 12, 2022, 10:19 a.m.)
Indexed 2 weeks, 2 days ago (Aug. 19, 2025, 6:44 a.m.)
Issued 20 years, 8 months ago (Dec. 17, 2004)
Published 20 years, 8 months ago (Dec. 17, 2004)
Published Online 20 years, 8 months ago (Dec. 17, 2004)
Published Print 20 years, 8 months ago (Dec. 28, 2004)
Funders 0

None

@article{Dittgen_2004, title={Lentivirus-based genetic manipulations of cortical neurons and their optical and electrophysiological monitoring in vivo}, volume={101}, ISSN={1091-6490}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0407976101}, DOI={10.1073/pnas.0407976101}, number={52}, journal={Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, publisher={Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, author={Dittgen, Tanjew and Nimmerjahn, Axel and Komai, Shoji and Licznerski, Pawel and Waters, Jack and Margrie, Troy W. and Helmchen, Fritjof and Denk, Winfried and Brecht, Michael and Osten, Pavel}, year={2004}, month=dec, pages={18206–18211} }