Abstract
Many forms of electrical excitability expressed in the embryonic nervous system depend on Ca2+ influx. This discovery has stimulated investigation of the functions of spontaneous elevations of intracellular Ca2+ and their roles in neuronal development. We present a protocol for imaging different classes of intracellular Ca2+ transients in embryonic Xenopus (amphibian) spinal neurons grown in dissociated cell culture and in the intact neural tube (the developing spinal cord), focusing on early stages of neuronal differentiation around the time of neural tube closure. The protocol describes methods for gain-of-function and loss-of-function experiments to reveal the functions of these Ca2+ transients. The methods can also be applied to explant and organotypic cultures. The procedures are sufficiently simple that they can be further adapted for dissociated neuronal cell cultures from other developing embryos, embryonic spinal cords of vertebrates such as zebrafish, and ganglia in the developing nervous systems of invertebrates.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 653-664 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Cold Spring Harbor Protocols |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 2013 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)
- Medicine(all)
Cite this
Imaging and Manipulating Calcium Transients in Developing Xenopus Spinal Neurons. / Spitzer, Nicholas C.; Borodinsky, Laura N; Root, Cory M.
In: Cold Spring Harbor Protocols, Vol. 8, No. 7, 07.2013, p. 653-664.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Imaging and Manipulating Calcium Transients in Developing Xenopus Spinal Neurons
AU - Spitzer, Nicholas C.
AU - Borodinsky, Laura N
AU - Root, Cory M.
PY - 2013/7
Y1 - 2013/7
N2 - Many forms of electrical excitability expressed in the embryonic nervous system depend on Ca2+ influx. This discovery has stimulated investigation of the functions of spontaneous elevations of intracellular Ca2+ and their roles in neuronal development. We present a protocol for imaging different classes of intracellular Ca2+ transients in embryonic Xenopus (amphibian) spinal neurons grown in dissociated cell culture and in the intact neural tube (the developing spinal cord), focusing on early stages of neuronal differentiation around the time of neural tube closure. The protocol describes methods for gain-of-function and loss-of-function experiments to reveal the functions of these Ca2+ transients. The methods can also be applied to explant and organotypic cultures. The procedures are sufficiently simple that they can be further adapted for dissociated neuronal cell cultures from other developing embryos, embryonic spinal cords of vertebrates such as zebrafish, and ganglia in the developing nervous systems of invertebrates.
AB - Many forms of electrical excitability expressed in the embryonic nervous system depend on Ca2+ influx. This discovery has stimulated investigation of the functions of spontaneous elevations of intracellular Ca2+ and their roles in neuronal development. We present a protocol for imaging different classes of intracellular Ca2+ transients in embryonic Xenopus (amphibian) spinal neurons grown in dissociated cell culture and in the intact neural tube (the developing spinal cord), focusing on early stages of neuronal differentiation around the time of neural tube closure. The protocol describes methods for gain-of-function and loss-of-function experiments to reveal the functions of these Ca2+ transients. The methods can also be applied to explant and organotypic cultures. The procedures are sufficiently simple that they can be further adapted for dissociated neuronal cell cultures from other developing embryos, embryonic spinal cords of vertebrates such as zebrafish, and ganglia in the developing nervous systems of invertebrates.
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U2 - 10.1101/pdb.prot066803
DO - 10.1101/pdb.prot066803
M3 - Article
C2 - 23818661
AN - SCOPUS:84879718496
VL - 8
SP - 653
EP - 664
JO - Cold Spring Harbor Protocols
JF - Cold Spring Harbor Protocols
SN - 1559-6095
IS - 7
ER -