title: Single-synapse ablation and long-term imaging in live C. elegans.
abstract: Synapses are individually operated, computational units for neural communication. To manipulate physically individual synapses in a living organism, we have developed a laser ablation technique for removing single synapses in live neurons in C. elegans that operates without apparent damage to the axon. As a complementary technique, we applied microfluidic immobilization of C. elegans to facilitate long-term fluorescence imaging and observation of neuronal development. With this technique, we directly demonstrated the existence of competition between developing synapses in the HSNL motor neuron.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, Box 351700, Seattle, WA 98195-1700, United States.
authors.forename: Peter B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.forename: Allyson E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Sgro
authors.forename: Daniel L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Chao
authors.forename: Byron E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Doepker
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Scott Edgar
authors.forename: Kang
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Daniel T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Chiu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D053685:Laser Therapy / Q000379:methods; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000379:methods; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology*; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D013997:Time Factors