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In JoVE (1)
Other Publications (4)
Articles by Yulin Shi in JoVE
JoVE Neuroscience
Mapping Inhibitory Neuronal Circuits by Laser Scanning Photostimulation
1Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, 2Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of California, Irvine
This paper introduces an approach of combining laser scanning photostimulation with whole cell recordings in transgenic mice expressing GFP in limited inhibitory neuron populations. The technique allows for extensive mapping and quantitative analysis of local synaptic circuits of specific inhibitory cortical neurons.
Other articles by Yulin Shi on PubMed
Profile of Antibodies to the Nucleocapsid Protein of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)-associated Coronavirus in Probable SARS Patients
Profiles of antibodies to the nucleocapsid protein of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-associated coronavirus in 445 probable SARS patients and 3,749 healthy people or non-SARS patients were analyzed by antigen-capturing enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Antinucleocapsid antibodies were elucidated in 17.5% of the probable SARS patients 1 to 7 days after the onset of symptoms and in 80% of the patients 8 to 14 days after the onset. About 90% of the probable SARS patients were positive 15 or more days after illness. Antibody titers increased up to 70 days, and high antibody titers were maintained at least for another 3 months. Of the healthy people and non-SARS patients, only seven (0.187%) were weakly positive.
Antibody Responses Against SARS-coronavirus and Its Nucleocaspid in SARS Patients
SARS-Cov is the etiologic agent of severe acute respiratory syndrome. An understanding of the antibody responses to the viral components is very important for diagnosis and vaccine development.
Novel Use of Matched Filtering for Synaptic Event Detection and Extraction
Efficient and dependable methods for detection and measurement of synaptic events are important for studies of synaptic physiology and neuronal circuit connectivity. As the published methods with detection algorithms based upon amplitude thresholding and fixed or scaled template comparisons are of limited utility for detection of signals with variable amplitudes and superimposed events that have complex waveforms, previous techniques are not applicable for detection of evoked synaptic events in photostimulation and other similar experimental situations. Here we report on a novel technique that combines the design of a bank of approximate matched filters with the detection and estimation theory to automatically detect and extract photostimluation-evoked excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) from individually recorded neurons in cortical circuit mapping experiments. The sensitivity and specificity of the method were evaluated on both simulated and experimental data, with its performance comparable to that of visual event detection performed by human operators. This new technique was applied to quantify and compare the EPSCs obtained from excitatory pyramidal cells and fast-spiking interneurons. In addition, our technique has been further applied to the detection and analysis of inhibitory postsynaptic current (IPSC) responses. Given the general purpose of our matched filtering and signal recognition algorithms, we expect that our technique can be appropriately modified and applied to detect and extract other types of electrophysiological and optical imaging signals.
Cell-type Specific Regulation of Cortical Excitability Through the Allatostatin Receptor System
Recent technical advances enable the regulation of neuronal circuit activity with high spatial and temporal resolution through genetic delivery of molecular activation or inactivation systems.Among them, the allatostatin receptor (AlstR)/ligand system has been developed for selective and quickly reversible silencing of mammalian neurons. However, targeted AlstR-mediated inactivation of specific neuronal types, particularly diverse types of inhibitory interneurons, remains to be established. In the present study, we achieved Cre-directed expression of AlstRs to excitatory and inhibitory cell-types in the cortex, and found that the AlstR-mediated inactivation was specific and robust at single-cell and neuronal population levels. Bath application of the allatostatin peptide markedly reduced spiking activity of AlstR-expressing excitatory and inhibitory neurons in response to intrasomatic current injections and laser photostimulation via glutamate uncaging, but control neurons without AlstR expression were not affected. As for the cortical network activity, the peptide application constrained photostimulation-evoked excitatory activity propagation detected by fast voltage-sensitive dye (VSD) imaging of the slices expressing AlstRs selectively in excitatory neurons, while it augmented excitatory activity in those slices with inhibitory neurons expressing AlstRs. In addition, AlstR-mediated inactivation effectively suppressed pharmacologically induced seizure activity in the slices targeting AlstRs to excitatory neurons. Taken together, our work demonstrated that the genetic delivery of AlstRs can be used for regulation of cortical excitability in a cell-type specific manner, and suggested that the AlstR system can be potentially used for fast seizure control.
