Spying on Neuromodulator Dynamics In Vivo by Constructing Multi-Color GRAB Sensors
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The human brain consists of billions of neurons, most of which communicate with each other by releasing different kinds of neuromodulators through chemical synapses, and therefore is able to control different physiological functions like perception, motion, learning and memory. To dissect the mechanism underlying how brain take part in different physiological functions and pathological conditions, it's important to monitor the dynamics of neuromodulators in vivo. In the past few years, we and others have developed a series of multi-color GPCR-activation‒based (GRAB) sensors for monitoring extracellular neuromodulator dynamics with high sensitivity, specificity, and spatial-temporal resolution in living animals. In this report, I will share our recent progress in developing sensors for monitoring monoamines, nucleotides, neurolipids and neuropeptides. With these GRAB sensors, we have monitored the dynamics of neuromodulators in mice in a wide range of physiological processes (sleep-wake cycle, motion, etc.) and pathological conditions (epilepsy, etc.).
Dr. Yulong Li, a professor at the School of Life Sciences, Peking University, is a researcher at the PKU-THU Center for Life Sciences, IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research at PKU, New Cornerstone Science Laboratory. He got his B.S. from Peking University and his Ph.D. in Neurobiology from Duke University, followed by postdoctoral research at Stanford University. Since 2012, he established his lab at Peking University. His research centers on the ‘synapse’, the fundamental unit for the communication between neurons. He carries two layers of research: first, he develops cutting-edge research tools, namely advanced imaging probes, to untangle the complexity of the nervous system in space and in time; second, capitalizing on the advancement of research toolkits, he studies the regulation of synaptic transmission, focusing on the modulation of presynaptic transmitter release in health and disease conditions. His research group has successfully developed a series of novel genetically encoded optical probes called GPCR Activation-Based (GRAB) sensors for imaging neuromodulators such as acetylcholine, monoamines, purines, lipids, and neuropeptides. These probes have allowed, probably for the first time, rapid, chemical- and cell-specific in vivo detection in multiple organisms ranging from flies, zebrafish, and mice to songbirds.