Bioluminescence At The Service Of A Novel Cerebral Imaging Technique

Researchers have developed a new technique for imaging of neuronal function using bioluminescence. This imaging technique enables the monitoring of neuronal activity (and more specifically, calcium activity), real-time and in-vivo, in either a small group of neurons or in the brain as a whole. The novel imaging technique employs a new, GFP-aequorin marker/tracer. This is a calcium-sensitive protein, which in the presence of its co-factor , coelenterazine, will emit light (a photon) when there is a change to the calcium concentration in a cell; for example, following neuronal activation.