Genome editing-based approaches for imaging protein localization and dynamics in the mammalian brain

A neuron contains thousands of proteins, each of which mediates neuronal processes at distinct subcellular compartments. Thus, precise mapping of each protein with subcellular resolution in the brain is essential to understand neuronal processes at the molecular level. However, no conventional methods have provided rapid, generalizable, and high-throughput readouts for the subcellular localization of endogenous proteins in the mammalian brain. Recently, new methods based on in vivo genome editing have been developed for high-throughput determination of the protein localization with high specificity, resolution and contrast in mammalian brain tissue. In this review, I first describe the merits and demerits of each conventional method for imaging the protein localization in the brain. I then introduce the new genome editing-based methods to discuss their advantages, limitations and future potential in molecular and cellular neuroscience research.