Genetic Technologies in Neuroscience

Question 1

What do you need to create a cre-lox system?

Answer 1

Cre recombinase driven by a specific promoter (such as human synapsin) and gene of interest surrounded by lox sites.

Question 2

What is tet on/tet off?

Answer 2

Tetracycline controlled transcriptional activation, giving tetracycline antibiotic can either turn expression of specific genes on or off

Question 3

What is the FLP-FRT system?

Answer 3

Similar to ere-lox, flippase recombinase recognises a pair of FLP recombinase targets (FRTs) sequences that flank a genomic region of interest

Question 4

What are the pros and cons of optogenetics?

Answer 4

Pros: use of optically excitable ion channels allows rapid control of neuronal excitability, allows both cell and regional specific control of neuronal pathways
Cons: requires a light source to activate opsin, there’s potential for ion channels to perturb normal neuronal physiology.

Question 5

What are the pros and cons of optogenetics?

Answer 5

Pros: no light source required, fully reversible and cheaper than optogenetics
Cons: Less temporal control than optogenetics, ‘inactive’ agonists may not be specific and lots of controls needed.