Lighting up the Senses: FM1-43 Loading of Sensory Cells through Nonselective Ion Channels

TLDR

The study aims to demonstrate that the vital fluorescent dye FM1‑43 enters sensory cells and neurons through nonselective ion channels, enabling bright, specific labeling of diverse sensory cell types in vivo and in vitro. FM1‑43 rapidly permeates open mechanotransduction and other nonselective ion channels, rather than being taken up by endocytosis, allowing selective labeling of sensory cells. The dye selectively labels sensory cells and neurons through channel permeation, a process that can be blocked by channel closure, and the labeling remains bright for weeks, demonstrating that organic cationic dyes can enter multiple sensory channels.

Abstract

We describe a novel mechanism for vital fluorescent dye entry into sensory cells and neurons: permeation through ion channels. In addition to the slow conventional uptake of styryl dyes by endocytosis, small styryl dyes such as FM1-43 rapidly and specifically label hair cells in the inner ear by entering through open mechanotransduction channels. This labeling can be blocked by pharmacological or mechanical closing of the channels. This phenomenon is not limited to hair cell transduction channels, because human embryonic kidney 293T cells expressing the vanilloid receptor (TRPV1) or a purinergic receptor (P2X2) rapidly take up FM1-43 when those receptor channels are opened and not when they are pharmacologically blocked. This channel permeation mechanism can also be used to label many sensory cell types in vivo. A single subcutaneous injection of FM1-43 (3 mg/kg body weight) in mice brightly labels hair cells, Merkel cells, muscle spindles, taste buds, enteric neurons, and primary sensory neurons within the cranial and dorsal root ganglia, persisting for several weeks. The pattern of labeling is specific; nonsensory cells and neurons remain unlabeled. The labeling of the sensory neurons requires dye entry through the sensory terminal, consistent with permeation through the sensory channels. This suggests that organic cationic dyes are able to pass through a number of different sensory channels. The bright and specific labeling with styryl dyes provides a novel way to study sensory cells and neurons in vivo and in vitro, and it offers new opportunities for visually assaying sensory channel function.