Genetically encoded calcium indicators (GECIs) are powerful tools for systems neuroscience. Recent efforts in protein engineering have significantly increased the performance of GECIs. The state-of-the art single-wavelength GECI, GCaMP3, has been deployed in a number of model organisms and can reliably detect three or more action potentials (APs) in short bursts in several systems in vivo. Through protein structure determination, targeted mutagenesis, high-throughput screening, and a battery of in vitro assays, we have increased the dynamic range of GCaMP3 by several-fold, creating a family of “GCaMP5” sensors. We tested GCaMP5s in several systems: cultured neurons and astrocytes, mouse retina, and in vivo in Caenorhabditis chemosensory neurons, Drosophila larval neuromuscular junction and adult antennal lobe, zebrafish retina and tectum, and mouse visual cortex. Signal-to-noise ratio was improved by at least 2–3-fold. In the visual cortex, two GCaMP5 variants detected twice as many visual stimulus-responsive cells as GCaMP3. By combining in vivo imaging with electrophysiology we show that GCaMP5 fluorescence provides a more reliable measure of neuronal activity than its predecessor GCaMP3. GCaMP5 allows more sensitive detection of neural activity in vivo and may find widespread applications for cellular imaging in general.

Astrocytes are critical participants in synapse development and function, but their role in synaptic plasticity is unclear. Eph receptors and their ephrin ligands have been suggested to regulate neuron-glia interactions and EphA4-mediated ephrin reverse signaling is required for synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus. Here we show that long-term potentiation (LTP) at the CA3-CA1 synapse is modulated by EphA4 in the postsynaptic CA1 cell and by ephrinA3, a ligand of EphA4 that is found in astrocytes. Lack of EphA4 increases the levels of glial glutamate transporters and ephrinA3 modulates transporter currents in astrocytes. Pharmacological inhibition of glial glutamate transporters rescues the LTP defects in EphA4 and ephrinA3 mutant mice. Transgenic overexpression of ephrinA3 in astrocytes reduces glutamate transporter levels and produces focal dendritic swellings possibly caused by glutamate excitotoxicity. These results suggest that EphA4/ephrinA3 signaling is a critical mechanism for astrocytes to regulate synaptic function and plasticity.

Animals use the sense of vision to scan their environment, respond to threats, and locate food sources. The neural computations underlying the selection of a particular behavior, such as escape or approach, require flexibility to balance potential costs and benefits for survival. For example, avoiding novel visual objects reduces predation risk but negatively affects foraging success. Zebrafish larvae approach small, moving objects ("prey") and avoid large, looming objects ("predators"). We found that this binary classification of objects by size is strongly influenced by feeding state. Hunger shifts behavioral decisions from avoidance to approach and recruits additional prey-responsive neurons in the tectum, the main visual processing center. Both behavior and tectal function are modulated by signals from the hypothalamic-pituitary-interrenal axis and the serotonergic system. Our study has revealed a neuroendocrine mechanism that modulates the perception of food and the willingness to take risks in foraging decisions.

Neuronal network formation in the developing nervous system is dependent on the accurate navigation of nerve cell axons and dendrites, which is controlled by attractive and repulsive guidance cues. Ephrins and their cognate Eph receptors mediate many repulsive axonal guidance decisions by intercellular interactions resulting in growth cone collapse and axon retraction of the Eph-presenting neuron. We show that the Rac-specific GTPase-activating protein alpha2-chimaerin binds activated EphA4 and mediates EphA4-triggered axonal growth cone collapse. alpha-Chimaerin mutant mice display a phenotype similar to that of EphA4 mutant mice, including aberrant midline axon guidance and defective spinal cord central pattern generator activity. Our results reveal an alpha-chimaerin-dependent signaling pathway downstream of EphA4, which is essential for axon guidance decisions and neuronal circuit formation in vivo.

The axons of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) form topographic connections in the optic tectum, recreating a two-dimensional map of the visual field in the midbrain. RGC axons are also targeted to specific positions along the laminar axis of the tectum. Understanding the sensory transformations performed by the tectum requires identification of the rules that control the formation of synaptic laminae by RGC axons. However, there is little information regarding the spatial relationships between multiple axons as they establish laminar and retinotopic arborization fields within the same region of neuropil. Moreover, the contribution of RGC axon lamination to the processing of visual information is unknown. We have utilized Brainbow genetic labeling to visualize groups of individually identifiable axons during the assembly of a precise laminar map in the tectum. Live imaging of multiple RGCs revealed that axons target specific sublaminar positions during initial innervation and maintain their relative laminar positions throughout early larval development, ruling out a model for lamina selection based on iterative refinements. During this period of laminar stability, RGC arbors undergo structural rearrangements that shift their relative retinotopic positions. Analysis of cell type-specific lamination patterns revealed that distinct combinations of RGCs converge to form each sublamina, and this input heterogeneity correlates with different functional responses to visual stimuli. These findings suggest that lamina-specific sorting of retinal inputs provides an anatomical blueprint for the integration of visual features in the tectum.