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Calibration of Fluorescent Calcium Indicators

2011; Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press; Volume: 2011; Issue: 8 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1101/pdb.top120

1940-3402

Fritjof Helmchen,

Receptor Mechanisms and Signaling

INTRODUCTION During the past decades, many different fluorescent indicators have been developed for measuring intracellular ion concentrations. Of particular interest are fluorescent calcium indicators because of the fundamental role of Ca 2+ in various cellular processes such as contraction, secretion, and gene activation. For a quantitative understanding of the physiological roles of Ca 2+ , fluorescence signals measured with calcium indicators have to be converted to intracellular free calcium concentration ([Ca 2+ ] i ). Similarly, changes in [Ca 2+ ] i and the underlying calcium fluxes need to be inferred from the corresponding fluorescence changes. This article describes the theoretical background and the various principal methods for the calibration of calcium imaging data.