Retrograde neuronal tracing with a deletion-mutant rabies virus.
We have constructed a deletion-mutant rabies virus encoding EGFP and find it to be an excellent tool for studying detailed morphology and physiology of neurons projecting to injection sites within the mammalian brain. The virus cannot spread beyond initially infected cells yet, unlike other viral vectors, replicates its core within them. The cells therefore fluoresce intensely, revealing fine dendritic and axonal structure with no background from partially or faintly labeled cells.
Wickersham
Ian R
IR
Systems Neurobiology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 10010 North Torrey Pines Rd., La Jolla, California 92037, USA. iwickersham@salk.edu
Finke
Stefan
S
Conzelmann
Karl-Klaus
KK
Callaway
Edward M
EM
D000818:Animals; D001370:Axonal Transport / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D051379:Mice; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology / Q000821:virology*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D011820:Rabies virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000235:genetics
D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins