title: Voltage-sensitive rhodol with enhanced two-photon brightness.
abstract: We have designed, synthesized, and applied a rhodol-based chromophore to a molecular wire-based platform for voltage sensing to achieve fast, sensitive, and bright voltage sensing using two-photon (2P) illumination. Rhodol VoltageFluor-5 (RVF5) is a voltage-sensitive dye with improved 2P cross-section for use in thick tissue or brain samples. RVF5 features a dichlororhodol core with pyrrolidyl substitution at the nitrogen center. In mammalian cells under one-photon (1P) illumination, RVF5 demonstrates high voltage sensitivity (28% ΔF/F per 100 mV) and improved photostability relative to first-generation voltage sensors. This photostability enables multisite optical recordings from neurons lacking tuberous sclerosis complex 1, Tsc1, in a mouse model of genetic epilepsy. Using RVF5, we show that Tsc1 KO neurons exhibit increased activity relative to wild-type neurons and additionally show that the proportion of active neurons in the network increases with the loss of Tsc1. The high photostability and voltage sensitivity of RVF5 is recapitulated under 2P illumination. Finally, the ability to chemically tune the 2P absorption profile through the use of rhodol scaffolds affords the unique opportunity to image neuronal voltage changes in acutely prepared mouse brain slices using 2P illumination. Stimulation of the mouse hippocampus evoked spiking activity that was readily discerned with bath-applied RVF5, demonstrating the utility of RVF5 and molecular wire-based voltage sensors with 2P-optimized fluorophores for imaging voltage in intact brain tissue.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720.
authors.forename: Rishikesh U
authors.initials: RU
authors.lastname: Kulkarni
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720.
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Kramer
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720.
authors.forename: Narges
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pourmandi
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720.
authors.forename: Kaveh
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Karbasi
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720.|Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720.
authors.forename: Helen S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Bateup
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720; evanwmiller@berkeley.edu.|Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720.|Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720.
authors.forename: Evan W
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6556-7679
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology; D017785:Photons; D000077004:Tuberous Sclerosis Complex 1 Protein; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D056969:Voltage-Sensitive Dye Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D044004:Xanthones / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: C000624650:TSC1 protein, human; C000624651:Tsc1 protein, mouse; D000077004:Tuberous Sclerosis Complex 1 Protein; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins; D044004:Xanthones; C000607488:rhodol
keywords: fluorescent sensors; two-photon microscopy; voltage imaging