title: Tracing of corticospinal fibers by extracellular pressure-injection of biocytin into the motor cortex in rats.
abstract: The aim of this study was to determine if biocytin, a low molecular analog of biotin, could reliably label details of corticospinal fibers at the lumbar level in rats. Biocytin (5%) was injected extracellularly by pressure into the unilateral hindlimb area of the motor cortex. Frozen sections of the injection sites and the lumbar segments were incubated with avidin-horseradish peroxidase (HRP). Terminal labeling of corticospinal fibers at the lumbar segments could be observed within 2-3 days of the injection. These results indicate that anterograde tracing with biocytin can be applied to label axons in a long tract such as the corticospinal tract in rats. Biocytin stain provided a view of a higher level of detail than wheat germ agglutinin (WGA)-HRP.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Sapporo Medical College, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Imai
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aoki
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000166:cytology*; D005110:Extracellular Space / Q000502:physiology; D006614:Hindlimb / Q000502:physiology; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D006735:Horseradish Peroxidase; D008239:Lysine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D008297:Male; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000166:cytology*; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000166:cytology*; D018998:Wheat Germ Agglutinin-Horseradish Peroxidase Conjugate; D014909:Wheat Germ Agglutinins
chemical_list: D018998:Wheat Germ Agglutinin-Horseradish Peroxidase Conjugate; D014909:Wheat Germ Agglutinins; D006735:Horseradish Peroxidase; C013411:biocytin; D008239:Lysine