Data from: All-optical recording and stimulation of retinal neurons in vivo in retinal degeneration mice

Here we demonstrate the application of a method that could accelerate the development of novel therapies by allowing direct and repeatable visualization of cellular function in the living eye, to study loss of vision in animal models of retinal disease, as well as evaluate the time course of retinal function following therapeutic intervention. We use high-resolution adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscopy to image fluorescence from the calcium sensor GCaMP6s. In mice with photoreceptor degeneration (rd10), we measured restored visual responses in ganglion cell layer neurons expressing the red-shifted channelrhodopsin ChrimsonR over a six-week period following significant loss of visual responses. Combining a fluorescent calcium sensor, a channelrhodopsin, and adaptive optics enables all-optical stimulation and recording of retinal neurons in the living eye. Because the retina is an accessible portal to the central nervous system, our method also provides a novel non-invasive method of dissecting neuronal processing in the brain.

本研究展示了一种可加速新型治疗手段研发的方法的应用：该方法可在活体眼中直接且可重复地可视化细胞功能，用于研究视网膜疾病动物模型的视力丧失情况，并评估治疗干预后视网膜功能的时间进程。我们采用高分辨率自适应光学扫描检眼镜（adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscopy），对钙传感器GCaMP6s的荧光信号进行成像。在光感受器变性（rd10）小鼠中，我们于视觉反应显著丧失后的六周周期内，对表达红移型视紫红质通道蛋白ChrimsonR的神经节细胞层神经元的恢复性视觉反应进行了检测。将荧光钙传感器、视紫红质通道蛋白与自适应光学技术相结合，可实现活体眼球内视网膜神经元的全光学刺激与记录。由于视网膜是通往中枢神经系统的可及窗口，本方法亦为无创解析大脑神经元加工过程提供了全新途径。