Levy Sabrina L, White Joshua J, Lackey Elizabeth P, Schwartz Lindsey, Sillitoe Roy V
Department of Pathology and Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas.
Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute of Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, Texas.
Curr Protoc Neurosci. 2017 Apr 10;79:1.28.1-1.28.24. doi: 10.1002/cpns.28.
Anatomical labeling approaches are essential for understanding brain organization. Among these approaches are various methods of performing tract tracing. However, a major hurdle to overcome when marking neurons in vivo is visibility. Poor visibility makes it challenging to image a desired neuronal pathway so that it can be easily differentiated from a closely neighboring pathway. As a result, it becomes impossible to analyze individual projections or their connections. The tracer that is chosen for a given purpose has a major influence on the quality of the tracing. Here, we describe the wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) tracer conjugated to Alexa fluorophores for reliable high-resolution tracing of central nervous system projections. Using the mouse cerebellum as a model system, we implement WGA-Alexa tracing for marking and mapping neural circuits that control motor function. We also show its utility for marking localized regions of the cerebellum after performing single-unit extracellular recordings in vivo. © 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
解剖学标记方法对于理解大脑组织至关重要。在这些方法中，有各种进行神经束示踪的方法。然而，在体内标记神经元时要克服的一个主要障碍是可见性。可见性差使得对所需神经元通路进行成像具有挑战性，从而难以将其与紧邻的通路轻松区分开来。结果，就无法分析单个投射或它们的连接。为特定目的选择的示踪剂对示踪质量有重大影响。在这里，我们描述了与Alexa荧光团偶联的小麦胚凝集素（WGA）示踪剂，用于可靠地高分辨率追踪中枢神经系统投射。以小鼠小脑作为模型系统，我们应用WGA-Alexa示踪来标记和绘制控制运动功能的神经回路。我们还展示了在体内进行单单位细胞外记录后，它在标记小脑局部区域方面的效用。©2017约翰威立父子出版公司
