Strain Construction

The transgenic mice of this strain can be used for optogenetic research, rapid control of motor behavior by adding or removing light, mapping of neural circuit connection and spatial distribution of neurons after illumination in vitro and in vivo, or fluorescent labeling of neural tissue.

The sequence of channelrhodopsin-1 of Volvox carteri was modified to include codons optimized for mammalian expression and function acquisition sequence replacement. The optimized channelrhodopsin-1 sequence was fused with the enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (EYFP) sequence and inserted downstream of the mouse Thy1 promoter.

Strain Description

Opsin is a retinal binding protein that provides light dependent ion transport and sensory functions for halophilic bacteria. The optimized channelrhodopsin-1 acts as a green light driven cation channel to depolarize cells and induce action potentials. Therefore, illumination of opsin expressing neurons leads to rapid and reversible stimulation of action potential discharge/neural activity in these cells.

Compared with ChR2, the optimized opsin is more sensitive to light and has a significant (~ 70 nm) red shift spectrum, with a maximum of ~ 535 nm (green light), which is very effective in depolarizing and stimulating pyramidal neurons. Optimized channelrhodopsin-1 has slower inactivation kinetics, so the time interval between light stimuli should be set to allow the response to fully recover between stimuli.

The fusion protein can effectively target the plasma membrane, and there is basically no unnecessary aggregation/retention in the endoplasmic reticulum. Light activation is more effective with age for at least three weeks. This age-dependent increase in the degree of light activation may be due to the high level of opsin expression during this period.

At present, Creative BioMart has developed a variety of mouse strains expressing Channelrhodopsin, halorhodopsin and Archaerhodopsin respectively, which facilities the application of optogenetic. We have complete animal maintenance facilities to ensure animal health and animal welfare.

Strain Details

Expressed Gene: Yellow Fluorescent Protein (YFP) from jellyfish, channelrhodopsin-1 of Volvox carteri

Site of Expression: Yellow fluorescence can be observed in mouse cortex, hippocampus (CA1, CA3 and dentate gyrus), thalamus, hypothalamus, brainstem and amygdala.

Genotype: Inquiry

Strain Application

This mouse can be used to support research in many areas including

Please note that

Creative BioMart has strict gene quality control and mutation genotyping procedures. However, the phenotype of each strain may not be fully characterized and/or captured in the strain data sheet. Therefore, we cannot guarantee that the phenotype of the strain will meet all expectations.

Creative BioMart is always devote us to provide high-quality and satisfactory service to our customers, if you are interested in our services or have some question, please feel free to contact us or make online inquiry.

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