A genetically encoded near-infrared fluorescent calcium ion indicator

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Qian Y, Piatkevich KD, Mc Larney B, Abdelfattah AS, Mehta S, Murdock MH, Gottschalk S, Molina RS, Zhang W, Chen Y, Wu J, Drobizhev M, Hughes TE, Zhang J, Schreiter ER, Shoham S, Razansky D, Boyden ES, Campbell RE (2018) A genetically encoded near-infrared fluorescent calcium ion indicator, Nature Methods 16(2):171-174.

We report an intensiometric, near-infrared fluorescent, genetically encoded calcium ion (Ca2+) indicator (GECI) with excitation and emission maxima at 678 and 704 nm, respectively. This GECI, designated NIR-GECO1, enables imaging of Ca2+ transients in cultured mammalian cells and brain tissue with sensitivity comparable to that of currently available visible-wavelength GECIs. We demonstrate that NIR-GECO1 opens up new vistas for multicolor Ca2+ imaging in combination with other optogenetic indicators and actuators.