A versatile, positive-going voltage indicator that enables accessible two-photon recordings in vivo

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Authors: Alex James McDonald, Michelle Ann Land, S. Q. Yang, Noura Hakam, Vincent Villette, Jun Zhu, Mario Galdamez, Mario Fernández de la Puebla, Xiaoyu Lu, Gregory Foran, Tanmayee Torne-Srivastava, Beatriz Campillo
+23 more Haixin Liu, Xiaoyu Dong, Shujuan Lai, Matthew Shorey, Hala Abdallah, Raegan Banks, Anastasia V. Mamontova, Yu-Yau York Shan, Ryan Kroeger, Robert Law, Ming Hu, Daniela Gaspar Santos, Jonathan Bradley, Alberto Lombardini, Benjamin Mathieu, Annick Ayon, Ryan Gregory Natan, Hongyi Yuan, Jacob Reimer, Laurent Bourdieu, Na Ji, Weijian Zong, François St-Pierre
Cited by: 2

Abstract

Genetically encoded voltage indicators (GEVIs) enable cell‑type-specific optical readout of membrane potential, but two‑photon (2P) spike detection has been hampered by low signal‑to‑noise and ultrafast off‑kinetics, restricting use to specialized microscopes. We introduce FORCE1s, a green, positive‑going GEVI engineered to make robust 2P voltage imaging broadly accessible. FORCE1s brightens from a dark baseline during depolarization, reports spikes with ~100% ΔF/F in awake mice, and displays repolarization kinetics that are tuned for reliable spike detection at sub‑kilohertz frame rates. As a result, FORCE1s supports spike‑resolved multi‑cell recordings on standard resonant-scanning microscopes, and further scales to larger fields of view and neuron counts on advanced modalities. FORCE1s also enables multiplexed voltage-neurotransmitter imaging and extended recordings in freely moving mice using a compact, affordable MEMS‑based 2P miniscope. Together, these advances establish FORCE1s as a community‑ready tool that democratizes deep‑tissue voltage imaging across platforms and experimental contexts.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Neuroscience and Neural Engineering Advanced Fluorescence Microscopy Techniques Neural dynamics and brain function

Publication details

Journal / source
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
Publisher
openRxiv
Publication date
10 April 2026
Language
EN
Document type
Preprint