Optical Estimation of Bioelectric Patterns in Living Embryos

Patrick McMillen; Michael Levin

doi:10.1007/978-1-0716-3577-3_6

Optical Estimation of Bioelectric Patterns in Living Embryos

Methods Mol Biol. 2024:2745:91-102. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3577-3_6.

Authors

Patrick McMillen¹, Michael Levin^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biology, Allen Discovery Center, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA.
² Department of Biology, Allen Discovery Center, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA. Michael.Levin@tufts.edu.
³ Wyss Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA. Michael.Levin@tufts.edu.

PMID: 38060181
DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3577-3_6

Abstract

Fluorescent lifetime imaging (FLIM) is a powerful tool for visualizing physiological parameters in vivo. We present here a 3-dye strategy for mapping bioelectric patterns in living Xenopus laevis embryos leveraging the quantitative power of fluorescent lifetime imaging. We discuss a general strategy for disentangling physiological artifacts from true bioelectric signals, a method for dye delivery via transcardial injection, and how to visualize and interpret the fluorescent lifetime of the dyes in vivo.

Keywords: Bioelectricity; Fluorescent Lifetime Imaging; Transcardial injection; Vmem; VoltageFluor; Xenopus laevis.

MeSH terms

Animals
Coloring Agents*
Electrophysiological Phenomena*
Fluorescent Dyes
Membrane Potentials / physiology
Optical Imaging / methods
Xenopus laevis / physiology

Substances

Coloring Agents
Fluorescent Dyes