Hyperspectral imaging to monitor simultaneously multiple protein subtypes and live track their spatial dynamics: a new platform to screen drugs for CNS diseases

In the past decade, the efficacy of existing therapies and the discovery of innovative treatments for Central Nervous System (CNS) diseases have been limited by the lack of appropriate methods to investigate complex molecular processes at the synaptic level. In order to better understand the fundamental mechanisms that regulate diseases of the CNS, a fast fluorescence hyperspectral imaging platform was designed to track simultaneously various neurotransmitter receptors trafficking in and out of synapses. With this hyperspectral imaging platform, it was possible to image simultaneously five different synaptic proteins, including subtypes of glutamate receptors (mGluR, NMDAR, AMPAR), postsynaptic density proteins, and signaling proteins. This new imaging platform allows fast simultaneous acquisitions of at least five fluorescent markers in living neurons with a high spatial resolution. This technique provides an effective method to observe several synaptic proteins at the same time, thus study how drugs for CNS impact the spatial dynamics of these proteins.