Neurons communicate by using electrical signals, mediated by transient changes in the voltage across the plasma membrane. Optical techniques for visualizing these transmembrane potentials could revolutionize the field of neurobiology by allowing the spatial profile of electrical activity to be imaged in real time with high resolution, along individual neurons or groups of neurons within their native networks., Second harmonic generation (SHG) is one of the most promising methods for imaging membrane potential, although so far this technique has only been demonstrated with a narrow range of dyes. Here we show that SHG from a porphyrin-based membrane probe gives a fast electro-optic response to an electric field which is about 5–10 times greater than that of conventional styryl dyes. Our results indicate that porphyrin dyes are promising probes for imaging membrane potential.
Keywords: dyes; membrane potential; membranes; nonlinear optics; porphyrinoids.