Microengineered devices enable long-term imaging of the ventral nerve cord in behaving adult Drosophila.
Nat Commun
; 13(1): 5006, 2022 08 25.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36008386
ABSTRACT
The dynamics and connectivity of neural circuits continuously change on timescales ranging from milliseconds to an animal's lifetime. Therefore, to understand biological networks, minimally invasive methods are required to repeatedly record them in behaving animals. Here we describe a suite of devices that enable long-term optical recordings of the adult Drosophila melanogaster ventral nerve cord (VNC). These consist of transparent, numbered windows to replace thoracic exoskeleton, compliant implants to displace internal organs, a precision arm to assist implantation, and a hinged stage to repeatedly tether flies. To validate and illustrate our toolkit we (i) show minimal impact on animal behavior and survival, (ii) follow the degradation of chordotonal organ mechanosensory nerve terminals over weeks after leg amputation, and (iii) uncover waves of neural activity caffeine ingestion. Thus, our long-term imaging toolkit opens up the investigation of premotor and motor circuit adaptations in response to injury, drug ingestion, aging, learning, and disease.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Proteínas de Drosophila
/
Drosophila
Tipo de estudo:
Diagnostic_studies
Limite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2022
Tipo de documento:
Article