Measuring intrinsic optical signals from Mammalian nerve terminals.

Intrinsic optical changes (light scattering signals) occur in mammalian nerve terminals during and immediately following the arrival of the action potential. In the neurohypophysis (posterior pituitary gland), the action potential is coupled to calcium-mediated secretion of the neuropeptides oxytocin and vasopressin. This excitation-secretion coupling is intimately related to extremely rapid changes in light scattering. These optical signals provide a millisecond-time-resolved monitor of events in the terminals that follow the arrival of the action potential and the entry of calcium. Light scattering procedures are designed to measure intrinsic optical signals from mammalian nerve terminals. In practice, these signals are remarkably simple to record from any of the mammalian neurohypophyses that have been studied. To date, this approach has been used successfully in mouse, rat, and guinea pig. This protocol provides instrumentation requirements and a method for preparation of the neurohypophysis so that intrinsic optical signals can be measured from nerve terminals. It also includes a discussion of the interpretation of the signals that are obtained.

Two-photon excitation of potentiometric probes enables optical recording of action potentials from mammalian nerve terminals in situ.

We report the first optical recordings of action potentials, in single trials, from one or a few (approximately 1-2 microm) mammalian nerve terminals in an intact in vitro preparation, the mouse neurohypophysis. The measurements used two-photon excitation along the "blue" edge of the two-photon absorption spectrum of di-3-ANEPPDHQ (a fluorescent voltage-sensitive naphthyl styryl-pyridinium dye), and epifluorescence detection, a configuration that is critical for noninvasive recording of electrical activity from intact brains. Single-trial recordings of action potentials exhibited signal-to-noise ratios of approximately 5:1 and fractional fluorescence changes of up to approximately 10%. This method, by virtue of its optical sectioning capability, deep tissue penetration, and efficient epifluorescence detection, offers clear advantages over linear, as well as other nonlinear optical techniques used to monitor voltage changes in localized neuronal regions, and provides an alternative to invasive electrode arrays for studying neuronal systems in vivo.