title: Retrograde neuronal tracing with a deletion-mutant rabies virus.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Systems Neurobiology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 10010 North Torrey Pines Rd., La Jolla, California 92037, USA. iwickersham@salk.edu
authors.forename: Ian R
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: Wickersham
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Finke
authors.forename: Karl-Klaus
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Conzelmann
authors.forename: Edward M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Callaway
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins