Expression of the excitatory opsin ChRERα can be traced longitudinally in rat and nonhuman primate brains with PET imaging.

ABSTRACT: Optogenetics is a widely used technology with potential for translational research. A critical component of such applications is the ability to track the location of the transduced opsin in vivo. To address this problem, we engineered an excitatory opsin, ChRERα (hChR2(134R)-V5-ERα-LBD), that could be visualized using positron emission tomography (PET) imaging in a noninvasive, longitudinal, and quantitative manner. ChRERα consists of the prototypical excitatory opsin channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) and the ligand-binding domain (LBD) of the human estrogen receptor α (ERα). ChRERα showed conserved ChR2 functionality and high affinity for [¹⁸F]16α-fluoroestradiol (FES), an FDA-approved PET radiopharmaceutical. Experiments in rats demonstrated that adeno-associated virus (AAV)-mediated

SUBMITTER: Bonaventura J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10938262 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature