6 April 2023
In collaboration with scientists from Peking University (principal investigator Yulong Li and coworkers), AIMMS researchers Xiaoyuan Ma, Henry Vischer and Rob Leurs report on March 15th 2023 in Neuron on the development of a series of genetically encoded G-protein-coupled receptor-activation-based sensors.
These new tools allow real-time measurements of the release of the neurotransmitter histamine with sub-second kinetics and high specificity from brain slices and in intact brains of living mice.
Histamine is a key neurotransmitter involved in a wide range of physiological and pathological processes (e.g. regulation of sleep/wakefulness, learning, food intake) in both the central and peripheral nervous systems. Using these new fluorescent sensors, real-time histamine release in different brain areas was measured during the sleep-wake cycle in freely moving mice. The ability to directly observe histamine release in real time provides important new tools to study the role of histamine in complex brain circuits.
Read the full article here