title: Expanding the repertoire of optogenetically targeted cells with an enhanced gene expression system.
abstract: Optogenetics has been enthusiastically pursued in recent neuroscience research, and the causal relationship between neural activity and behavior is becoming ever more accessible. Here, we established knockin-mediated enhanced gene expression by improved tetracycline-controlled gene induction (KENGE-tet) and succeeded in generating transgenic mice expressing a highly light-sensitive channelrhodopsin-2 mutant at levels sufficient to drive the activities of multiple cell types. This method requires two lines of mice: one that controls the pattern of expression and another that determines the protein to be produced. The generation of new lines of either type readily expands the repertoire to choose from. In addition to neurons, we were able to manipulate the activity of nonexcitable glial cells in vivo. This shows that our system is applicable not only to neuroscience but also to any biomedical study that requires understanding of how the activity of a selected population of cells propagates through the intricate organic systems.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurobiology and Bioinformatics, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki, Japan. kftanaka@a8.keio.jp
authors.forename: Kenji F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Ko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsui
authors.forename: Takuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Hiromi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sano
authors.forename: Shouta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sugio
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: René
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hen
authors.forename: Junichi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nakai
authors.forename: Yuchio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yanagawa
authors.forename: Hidetoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hasuwa
authors.forename: Masaru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okabe
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Deisseroth
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ikenaka
authors.forename: Akihiro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yamanaka
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015870:Gene Expression; D055879:Gene Knock-In Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000378:metabolism; D009928:Organ Specificity / Q000235:genetics; D012243:Rhodopsin / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D012243:Rhodopsin