Date/Time
Date(s) - 11/08/2024
9:00 am - 9:50 am
Category(ies)
Date: Friday, November 8, 2024
Time: 9-9:50 a.m.
Location: SCOB 210
Faculty host: Xiaojun Tian
Dr. Francois St-Pierre Seminar Flyer
Abstract: A longstanding goal in neuroscience is understanding how spatiotemporal patterns of neuronal electrical activity underlie brain function, from sensory representations to decision-making. An emerging technology for monitoring electrical dynamics is voltage imaging using genetically encoded voltage indicators (GEVIs). GEVIs are light-emitting protein indicators whose brightness is modulated by voltage. GEVIs are promising tools for monitoring voltage dynamics at high spatiotemporal resolution in genetically defined cell types. However, previous GEVIs enabled a narrow range of applications in vivo due to poor performance under two-photon microscopy, a method of choice for deep-tissue recording. Using structural insights and novel high-throughput screening platforms, we engineered novel indicators that are faster, brighter, and more sensitive and photostable than their predecessors. These new GEVIs enable the noninvasive recording of rapid voltage transients for extended durations and in deep cortical layers in awake behaving mice. We anticipate that our sensors will encourage neuroscientists – including those more familiar with calcium imaging – to exploit the unique advantages of voltage optical recording to decipher neuronal computations with millisecond-timescale resolution and cell type specificity.
BioSketch: Dr. François St-Pierre hacks proteins, nucleic acids, and microscopes to create tools for neuroscientists. A native of Quebec City in Canada, François earned his B.A. and M.A. in natural sciences at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, where he studied physics, chemistry and biology. He completed his PhD in computational systems biology at MIT with Drew Endy, a pioneer in synthetic biology. He then moved to Stanford to conduct postdoctoral training with Michael Lin in bioengineering and neuroscience, where he engineered and applied novel protein-based brain activity sensors. In 2015, he moved to Houston to join the neuroscience department at Baylor, where he is now an associate professor. He also became an adjunct professor in the electrical and computer engineering department at Rice University. His laboratory focuses on developing fluorescent indicators of neural activity, optogenetic tools to silence neurons, synthetic gene circuits for precise protein expression, and novel methods for high-throughput screening. His work has been published in high-impact journals, including Cell, Nature Neuroscience, Nature Methods and Science Advances. His research program is funded by multiple grants from NIH, NSF CPRIT and the Dunn and Welch Foundations. Dr. St-Pierre is a scholar of the McNair Medication Institute, a Fellow of the Klingenstein-Simons Foundation, and has been recognized with an Innovation Award from the National Science Foundation. He is also a 2023 DeBakey Excellence in Research Award. He recently co-founded Imagen Bioworks, a commercialized invention from his lab.