Noninvasive Longitudinal Measurements of [Ca2+] in Arterioles of Hypertensive Optical Biosensor Mice

Have noninvasive calcium signaling measurement methods turned a new corner? Yes, according to a unique new study by Mauban et al. Associate Editor Nancy Kanagy interviews senior author W. Gil Wier (University of Maryland School of Medicine) and leading expert Mark Nelson (University of Vermont) about the work by Wier and colleagues, which measured intracellular levels of calcium noninvasively in the same animal over a period of several weeks. How? Wier and co-authors ingeniously immobilized the mouse ear, enabling the use of a FRET-based ratiometric calculation of actual intracellular calcium levels in vascular cells inside the living animal. Does this innovative methodology launch new possibilities for evaluating calcium signaling changes during disease development? Listen and find out.

Joseph R. H. Mauban, Seth T. Fairfax, Mark A. Rizzo, Jin Zhang, Withrow Gil Wier A method for noninvasive longitudinal measurements of [Ca2+] in arterioles of hypertensive optical biosensor mice Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, published July 15, 2014. DOI: 10.1152/ajpheart.00182.2014.