title: Tracking transmitter-gated P2X cation channel activation in vitro and in vivo.
abstract: We present a noninvasive approach to track activation of ATP-gated P2X receptors and potentially other transmitter-gated cation channels that show calcium fluxes. We genetically engineered rat P2X receptors to carry calcium sensors near the channel pore and tested this as a reporter for P2X(2) receptor opening. The method has several advantages over previous attempts to image P2X channel activation by fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET): notably, it reports channel opening rather than a conformation change in the receptor protein. Our FRET-based imaging approach can be used as a general method to track, in real time, the location, regional expression variation, mobility and activation of transmitter-gated P2X channels in living neurons in vitro and in vivo. This approach should help to determine when, where and how different receptors are activated during physiological processes.
authors: Department of Physiology, University of California Los Angeles, 10833 LeConte Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA.
authors: Esther
authors: E
authors: Richler
authors: Severine
authors: S
authors: Chaumont
authors: Eiji
authors: E
authors: Shigetomi
authors: Alvaro
authors: A
authors: Sagasti
authors: Baljit S
authors: BS
authors: Khakh
mesh_terms: D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D031541:Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer / Q000379:methods*; D015640:Ion Channel Gating / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D018048:Receptors, Purinergic P2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D058469:Receptors, Purinergic P2X
chemical_list: D018048:Receptors, Purinergic P2; D058469:Receptors, Purinergic P2X; D002118:Calcium