AAV with CamKII promoter driven hChR2(E123T/T159C)-EGFP

This AAV expresses hChR2(E123T/T159C)-EGFP driven by a neuron CamKII promoter.

This 1.3 Kb promoter is derived from the murine α-Calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinase II (CaMKII), a gene with expression restricted to excitatory neurons in the neocortex and hippocampus. In cortical neurons, it was shown that the promoter activity of CaMKII(1.3) is about double that of CaMKII(2.4), probably due to some inhibitory element(s).

hChR2 is a humanized version of ChR2 for mammalian expression. Wild-type ChR2, as well as a few of its mutations, provides the fastest excitation of the channelrhodopsins offered, and is widely used in in optogenetics techniques in neuroscience. The hChR2(E123T/T159C) double mutation combines larger photocurrents from the T159C mutation and faster kinetics from the E123T mutation showing the highest speed/photocurrent combination so far. It is referred to as the second generation ultrafast optogenetics control.