Calcium Imaging Assay

Calcium imaging is an optical measurement-based microscopy technique that uses the fluorescent properties of indicators to detect the electrical activity of neuron cells in vitro or in vivo. The modulation of intracellular Ca²⁺ levels is an important part of neuronal function, which is involved in a series of important processes such as excitatory neurotransmission. Calcium imaging provides a bridge between electrophysiology and neuronal physiology. Creative Biolabs has the capability to assist your project with our professional and reliable calcium imaging assay services.

Performance of Calcium Imaging

Intracellular calcium regulation is a central feature of neuronal function. In essence, the activity of individual neurons is generated by the flow of charged ions, and the excitatory transmission of nerve bundles is also carried out by ions. Numerous studies have highlighted the connection between calcium homeostasis and neuronal function.

Methods for labeling calcium ions in cells have been extended to ratiometric methods, fluorescent dyes or genetically encoded calcium indicators. Depending on the thickness and the source of the sample, the time scale of imaging and the required temporal and spatial resolution, light-sheet microscopy and two-photon microscopy can also be performed.

Fig 1. Calcium imaging based on genetically encoded calcium indicators and GCaMP probes. (Iseppon, et al., 2022)

Through the calcium imaging analysis pipeline, researchers can record electrode data and membrane potential in multiple cells, including peak amplitude, rise time and decay time. Combined with knowledge of various synaptic connections, ionic currents and cell activity patterns, calcium imaging enables us to have a fundamental understanding of how neural circuits work, and detect and explore calcium transient-related mechanisms.

Fig 2. Various applications of calcium imaging under different detection methods. (Seshadri, et al., 2020)

Powerful Technical Platform of Calcium Assay

Acquiring high-quality dynamic calcium images requires the perfect implementation of all aspects, including neuronal cell culture/animal model establishment, excellent calcium indicators and imaging equipment, and real-time neuron detection or activity extraction systems.

Fig 3. Calcium imaging data analysis via multiple platforms. (Kolar, et al., 2021)

There are two most commonly used calcium indicators, chemical indicators and genetically encoded calcium indicators. Chemical indicators are mostly used in cell cultures or neuronal populations in brain tissue slices. These cells and tissues can be derived from experimental animals such as mice and zebrafish. Microfluidic chip technology also can be used to construct in vitro experimental models of neurons with unique structures and excellent optical detection performance. Genetically encoded calcium indicators are easily transferred into cell lines and can be used to construct transgenic animals expressing the indicator. Various cameras and laser scanning devices are needed to analyze neuronal circuit signals in real-time with high resolution. Excellent calcium imaging neural decoding system can accurately and quickly extract and detect neuronal activity, and accurately convert the obtained activity signal into image and analysis data for output.

Fig 4. Microfluidic chip for calcium imaging assay. (Renault, et al., 2015)

Our Calcium Imaging Assays

Calcium imaging is currently a major tool for neuroscientists, ethologists, and electrophysiologists that helps to evaluate calcium ions' role in neurons. With calcium imaging technology, you can either study an individual cell or a neuronal network you are interested in. Thanks to our excellent R&D team, Creative Biolabs provides high-resolution, mid-throughput calcium imaging assay with high-quality and reliable data for our global clients.

Our services include the construction of in vitro experimental models, tissue sections and animal models, calcium indicator staining and imaging, as well as prediction, annotation, as well as an accurate analysis of calcium imaging data. In addition to this, we are also happy to improve existing methods, couple calcium imaging with other advanced techniques for analysis or develop new projects for your program.

You are more than welcome to contact us for more information.

References

1. Iseppon, F.; et al. Calcium imaging for analgesic drug discovery. Neurobiology of Pain. 2022, 11: 100083.
2. Seshadri, S.; et al. Calcium imaging in drug discovery for Psychiatric disorders. Frontiers in Psychiatry. 2020, 11: 713.
3. Kolar, K.; et al. Mesmerize is a dynamically adaptable user-friendly analysis platform for 2D and 3D calcium imaging data. Nature Communications. 2021, 12: 6569.
4. Renault, R.; et al. Combining microfluidics, optogenetics and calcium imaging to study neuronal communication In Vitro. PLoS ONE. 2015, 10(4): e0120680.