Research Projects
Voltron is a tool that emits light bright enough for microscopes to reliably and precisely capture video of action potentials, which happen at millisecond-timescales. Voltron and Voltron 2 can not only effectively detect signals but do so for up to an hour at a time – much longer than with previous tools. For these reasons, the sensors are a breakthrough and provide an alternative to traditional electrode recordings.
Voltron and Voltron 2 are sensors made up of a specially engineered protein combined with a molecule of ultra-bright synthetic dye that together can measure – in real time – the voltage changes that occur when neurons communicate. The sensor protein is expressed into zebrafish, flies and mice and, when active, can measure fast electrical signaling of thousands of individual neurons in living, behaving animals. Voltron 2 is the latest version and is more sensitive to voltage changes in the cell membrane. More recent version expand this technology to 2-photon imaging through the development of 2Photron.
