2020年11月2日,英国MRC分子生物学实验室Gregory S. X. E. Jefferis、Sebastian Cachero等研究人员合作在《自然—方法学》杂志发表论文,报道了一种能在果蝇中逆行示踪神经元回路的新工具。
Title: BAcTrace, a tool for retrograde tracing of neuronal circuits in Drosophila
Author: Sebastian Cachero, Marina Gkantia, Alexander S. Bates, Shahar Frechter, Laura Blackie, Amy McCarthy, Ben Sutcliffe, Alessio Strano, Yoshinori Aso, Gregory S. X. E. Jefferis
Issue&Volume: 2020-11-02
Abstract: Animal behavior is encoded in neuronal circuits in the brain. To elucidate the function of these circuits, it is necessary to identify, record from and manipulate networks of connected neurons. Here we present BAcTrace (Botulinum-Activated Tracer), a genetically encoded, retrograde, transsynaptic labeling system. BAcTrace is based on Clostridium botulinum neurotoxin A, Botox, which we engineered to travel retrogradely between neurons to activate an otherwise silent transcription factor. We validated BAcTrace at three neuronal connections in the Drosophila olfactory system. We show that BAcTrace-mediated labeling allows electrophysiological recording of connected neurons. Finally, in a challenging circuit with highly divergent connections, BAcTrace correctly identified 12 of 16 connections that were previously observed by electron microscopy. BAcTrace is a predominantly retrograde tracing tool for connectomic analyses in Drosophila.
DOI: 10.1038/s41592-020-00989-1
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41592-020-00989-1
Nature Methods:《自然—方法学》,创刊于2004年。隶属于施普林格·自然出版集团,最新IF:28.467
官方网址:https://www.nature.com/nmeth/
投稿链接:https://mts-nmeth.nature.com/cgi-bin/main.plex