Our work on hybrid voltage indicator is officially accepted in Angewandte Chemie International Edition! By site-specifically modifying microbial rhodopsin on live cell surface with organic fluorophores, we created a palette of hybrid indicators with combined merits of small molecules (bright, photostable and small in size) and proteins (genetically targetable). The best of this series, called Flare1, has submillisecond response speed and superior sensitivity than the previous generation of fluorescent protein-based sensors. It allowed us to investigate the spatial and temporal correlation of electrical coupling among mammalian cells. Future developments are underway to achieve voltage imaging in neurons or in vivo. To read more about the design and deployment of hybrid indicators to neuroscience research, please refer to our recent review in ACS Chemical Neuroscience .
