Review highlights successes and challenges for future of fluorescent microscopy in neuroscience

While the study of the human brain has been marked by cross-discipline collaboration for over a century, scientists have only begun characterizing its neurochemical processes in recent years. A new review article looks to chart the evolution of fluorescence microscopy and highlight important areas for future collaboration in neuroscience.

The new paper reports fluorescence microscopy trends in chemical neurotransmission studies. Beyene et al. highlights the spatial and temporal resolution of emerging techniques and calls for the continued development of tools capable of measuring neurochemistry at scales at which the brain functions.

“Unlike cancer or diabetes, the equivalent diagnosis for psychiatric medicine would involve getting a ‘brain sample’ which is intractable owing to the nature of where the brain resides in the body,” said author Markita Landry.

Looking ahead, Landry said she sees implementation as a major barrier for many neurochemical technologies.

For example, protein-based fluorescent probes can create biocompatible targeted sensors capable of operating in a complex biological milieu, but some of these probes require genetic encoding, which limits the kinds of organisms that can be studied. In contrast, synthetic sensors do not require species-specific optimizing but need to be optimized for binding kinetics and signal-to-noise ratios when used in realistic biological settings.

On the other hand, device-based approaches, such as microdialysis and field effect transistors, use analyte concentrations to determine high-quality temporal responses and do not rely on fluorescence. However, despite their high sensitivity, these approaches do not provide much spatial information.

Landry hopes the review will help stoke more conversations about interdisciplinary neurochemical research.

Source: “Tools and trends for probing brain neurochemistry,” by Abraham G. Beyene, Sarah J. Yang and Markita P. Landry, Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films (2019). The article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1116/1.5051047 .