Yoshihara Yoshihiro
Laboratory for Neurobiology of Synapse, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Hirosawa 2-1, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan.
Neurosci Res. 2002 Oct;44(2):133-40. doi: 10.1016/s0168-0102(02)00130-x.
Functional logic employed by the nervous system for information processing resides mainly in the wiring patterns among specific types of neurons. Therefore, detailed knowledge on neuronal networks is essential for understanding a wide range of brain functions. A powerful and long-awaited method for analyzing the neuronal connectivity patterns would be to deliver tracers selectively to specific types of neurons and at the same time to label transsynaptically their axonal target neurons. For this purpose, we took advantage of a unique property of plant lectin, wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), which has been used as a transsynaptic tracer in classical neuroanatomical studies. We developed a novel genetic strategy that employs WGA cDNA as a transgene, for the visualization of selective and functional neural pathways in the nervous system. In this article, I will introduce several examples of neural pathways visualized with the WGA transgene and discuss about its further refinement and applications.
神经系统用于信息处理的功能逻辑主要存在于特定类型神经元之间的连接模式中。因此，深入了解神经网络对于理解广泛的脑功能至关重要。一种强大且期待已久的分析神经元连接模式的方法是将示踪剂选择性地递送至特定类型的神经元，并同时通过跨突触标记其轴突靶神经元。为此，我们利用了植物凝集素麦胚凝集素（WGA）的独特特性，它在经典神经解剖学研究中已被用作跨突触示踪剂。我们开发了一种新的遗传策略，该策略采用WGA cDNA作为转基因，用于可视化神经系统中选择性和功能性神经通路。在本文中，我将介绍几个用WGA转基因可视化的神经通路实例，并讨论其进一步的优化和应用。
