Recently developed optogenetic tools provide powerful approaches to optically excite or inhibit neural activity. In a typical in-vivo experiment, light is delivered to deep nuclei via an implanted optical fiber. Light intensity attenuates with increasing distance from the fiber tip, determining the volume of tissue in which optogenetic proteins can successfully be activated. However, whether and how this volume of effective light intensity varies as a function of brain region or wavelength has not been systematically studied. The goal of this study was to measure and compare how light scatters in different areas of the mouse brain. We delivered different wavelengths of light via optical fibers to acute slices of mouse brainstem, midbrain and forebrain tissue. We measured light intensity as a function of distance from the fiber tip, and used the data to model the spread of light in specific regions of the mouse brain. We found substantial differences in effective attenuation coefficients among different brain areas, which lead to substantial differences in light intensity demands for optogenetic experiments. The use of light of different wavelengths additionally changes how light illuminates a given brain area. We created a brain atlas of effective attenuation coefficients of the adult mouse brain, and integrated our data into an application that can be used to estimate light scattering as well as required light intensity for optogenetic manipulation within a given volume of tissue.

The sodium-dependent phosphate (Na/P i ) transporters NaPi-2a and NaPi-2c play a major role in the renal reabsorption of P i . The functional need for several transporters accomplishing the same role is still not clear. However, the fact that these transporters show differential regulation under dietary and hormonal stimuli suggests different roles in P i reabsorption. The pathways controlling this differential regulation are still unknown, but one of the candidates involved is the NHERF family of scaffolding PDZ proteins. We propose that differences in the molecular interaction with PDZ proteins are related with the differential adaptation of Na/P i transporters. Pdzk1 ؊/؊ mice adapted to chronic low P i diets showed an increased expression of NaPi-2a protein in the apical membrane of proximal tubules but impaired up-regulation of NaPi-2c. These results suggest an important role for PDZK1 in the stabilization of NaPi-2c in the apical membrane. We studied the specific protein-protein interactions of Na/P i transporters with NHERF-1 and PDZK1 by FRET. FRET measurements showed a much stronger interaction of NHERF-1 with NaPi-2a than with NaPi-2c. However, both Na/P i transporters showed similar FRET efficiencies with PDZK1. Interestingly, in cells adapted to low P i concentrations, there were increases in NaPi-2c/PDZK1 and NaPi-2a/NHERF-1 interactions. The differential affinity of the Na/P i transporters for NHERF-1 and PDZK1 proteins could partially explain their differential regulation and/or stability in the apical membrane. In this regard, direct interaction between NaPi-2c and PDZK1 seems to play an important role in the physiological regulation of NaPi-2c.The type II sodium-coupled phosphate (Na/P i ) 3 transporters are the molecules responsible for tubular reabsorption of P i and are the target of hormonal and nonhormonal mechanisms that control phosphate homeostasis. NaPi-2a (NaPiIIa) is responsible for ϳ70% of the P i reabsorbed in the adult kidney of mice, whereas NaPi-2c (NaPiIIc) handles the remaining 30% (1, 2). A low dietary P i intake induces an increase of P i reabsorption in the proximal tubule mediated by augmented apical expression of NaPi-2a and NaPi-2c transporters and consequent increased P i uptake (3-6).Despite sharing a very similar molecular structure, NaPi-2a and NaPi-2c exhibit an increasing list of physiological differences. For example, whereas NaPi-2a is electrogenic, NaPi-2c is electroneutral (4, 7). In addition, both transporters participate in the renal adaptation to changes in dietary P i with different characteristics. In response to a high P i intake, NaPi-2a abundance decreases quickly (less than 1 h), internalization takes place in a microtubule-independent way, and molecules are targeted to the lysosomes via endosomes (8, 9). In contrast, under a high P i intake, NaPi-2c abundance decreases slowly (4 h), molecules are internalized through a microtubule-dependent pathway, and rather than being degraded, they are accumulated in a subapical compartment (10). Similar differences...

We review multiphoton microscopy (MPM) including two-photon autofluorescence (2PAF), second harmonic generation (SHG), third harmonic generation (THG), fluorescence lifetime (FLIM), and coherent anti-Stokes Raman Scattering (CARS) with relevance to clinical applications in ophthalmology. The different imaging modalities are discussed highlighting the particular strength that each has for functional tissue imaging. MPM is compared with current clinical ophthalmological imaging techniques such as reflectance confocal microscopy, optical coherence tomography, and fluorescence imaging. In addition, we discuss the future prospects for MPM in disease detection and clinical monitoring of disease progression, understanding fundamental disease mechanisms, and real-time monitoring of drug delivery.

The kidney is a key regulator of phosphate homeostasis. There are two predominant renal sodium phosphate cotransporters, NaPi2a and NaPi2c. Both are regulated by parathyroid hormone (PTH), which decreases the abundance of the NaPi cotransporters in the apical membrane of renal proximal tubule cells. The time course of PTH-induced removal of the two cotransporters from the apical membrane, however, is markedly different for NaPi2a compared with NaPi2c. In animals and in cell culture, PTH treatment results in almost complete removal of NaPi2a from the brush border (BB) within 1 h whereas for NaPi2c this process in not complete until 4 to 8 h after PTH treatment. The reason for this is poorly understood. We have previously shown that the unconventional myosin motor myosin VI is required for PTH-induced removal of NaPi2a from the proximal tubule BB. Here we demonstrate that myosin VI is also necessary for PTH-induced removal of NaPi2c from the apical membrane. In addition, we show that, while at baseline the two cotransporters have similar diffusion coefficients within the membrane, after PTH addition the diffusion coefficient for NaPi2a initially exceeds that for NaPi2c. Thus NaPi2c appears to remain "tethered" in the apical membrane for longer periods of time after PTH treatment, accounting, at least in part, for the difference in response times to PTH of NaPi2a versus NaPi2c.

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