Imaging protein trafficking in and out of dendritic spines

Time lapse images of GFP-CaMKII translocation to synapses in a cultured hippocampal neuron upon synaptic stimulation (2 min) and subsequent wash.

The fluorescent protein is initially distributed throughout the cytosol of the neuron and then accumulates rapidly at synaptic sites upon stimulation.

A large fraction of the fluorescence returns to a diffuse pattern after the stimulation.