NeuroPAL, Manuals, Reagents, and Software

 

NeuroPAL (Yemini et al, Cell 2021), is a method to identify cell-types, in vivo, using color barcodes. In NeuroPAL worms, every neuron type can be uniquely identified by its color and position. The method has been used to uniquely identify all neurons in order to: 1) measure their activity using GCaMP (e.g., in response to stimuli); 2) visualize dynamic changes in translational and transcriptional inventory using GFP, CFP, or YFP reporters; 3) visualize the timing of cell differentiation and changes in cell fate (e.g., in  mutants), using the onset of the cell’s coloring and checking for alterations in their color barcodes; and 4) measure positional variability and displacement of neurons (e.g., in mutants).

NeuroPAL is accompanied by software. The NeuroPAL ID software assists in automating the process of detecting and identifying neurons, quantifies the position and color intensities of each neuron (including any GFP, CFP, or YFP reporters), and generates publication-quality figures. Optimal-coloring software generates recipes for reporter-color combinations to distinguish any cell types in any organism that permits transgenesis.

Below are links to NeuroPAL resources and manuals that explain how to use the method.

NeuroPAL Software for Semi-Automated Neural Identification

A Publication-Quality Figure Generated by the NeuroPAL Software