Fluorescent molecular sensors and multi-photon microscopy in brain studies

To clarify the brain phenomena, to prove directly the major biochemical pathways in cerebral tissue, and to discover the crucial steps in brain pathology, it is necessary to develop a high speed deep-tissue imaging techniques with high spatial and temporal resolution, and ultra-fast and highly selective molecular sensors, giving a possibility to monitor target molecules directly in their physiological environment. This technical comment accents on the perspectives for development of direct approach for investigation of function/flow coupling phenomenon and zinc transport into the brain, based on the current progress in development of ultra-fast molecular sensors for direct visualization of biochemical mediators and neurotransmitters, and high speed multi-photon deep-tissue imaging. (C) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.