Optical Recording of Membrane Potential on Isolated Spiral Ganglion Cells of Newborn Mice Using a Voltage-sensitive Dye

Abstract

Optical imaging methods make monitoring of the membrane potential feasible. With this technique, one can observe different optical signals depending on optical properties, in response to membrane potential, using voltage-sensitive dyes. We used the multiple-site optical imaging system to investigate membrane potentials of the isolated, cultured spiral ganglion cells (SCGs) from newborn mice. We used a voltage-sensitive absorption dye. With high potassium (150 mM K + ) exposure, the absorbency of SGCs stained with voltage-sensitive dye increased temporarily under a 700-nm interference filter at approximately 0.3%. This detection of the depolarization of SGCs using an optical recording technique with a voltage-sensitive dye is important because it shows that the simultaneous measurement of activity in a variety of regions is possible, as is the exploring of the intercellular signalling pathway.