I am interested in the mechanism of these biological clocks and how their timing adjusts to daily cycles of light and dark in the environment. I rely on in vitro systems to study the major circadian pacemaker in mammals, the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus. My laboratory uses fluorescence imaging of intracellular calcium, electrical recording of neural impulses, and bioluminescent transgenic mice expressing the firefly luciferase gene to characterize the cells generating circadian rhythms. Bioluminescence imaging of gene expression in living cells and tissues. Basics of Fluorescence, Fluorophores, Microscopy and Detectors .
Luciferase bioluminescence enables real-time imaging of mammalian gene expression.
Luciferase imaging reveals distinct patterns of gene regulation in live brain slices. Induction of photosensitivity in neonatal rat pineal gland. Circadian rhythms in mouse suprachiasmatic nucleus explants on multimicroelectrode plates. Opsin-like immunoreactivity in the circadian pacemaker neurons and photoreceptors in the eye of the opisthobranch mollusk Bulla . Cellular study of a model circadian system.