Abstract
Retrograde tracing is an important method for dissecting neuronal connections and mapping neural circuits. Over the past decades, several virus-based retrograde tracers have been developed and have contributed to display multiple neural circuits in the brain. However, most of the previously widely used viral tools have focused on mono-transsynaptic neural tracing within the central nervous system, with very limited options for achieving polysynaptic tracing between the central and peripheral nervous systems. In this study, we generated a novel mouse line, GT mice, in which both glycoprotein (G) and ASLV-A receptor (TVA) were expressed throughout the body. Using this mouse model, in combination with the well-developed rabies virus tools (RABV-EnvA-ΔG) for monosynaptic retrograde tracing, polysynaptic retrograde tracing can be achieved. This allows functional forward mapping and long-term tracing. Furthermore, since the G-deleted rabies virus can travel upstream against the nervous system as the original strain, this mouse model can also be used for rabies pathological studies.
Graphical Abstract: Application of GT Mice
Schematic illustrations about the application principles of GT mice in polysynaptic retrograde tracing and rabies pathological research
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Data Availability
The data and materials generated in this study is available upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Dr. Hao Li and Tongmei Zhang for their help throughout the project.
Funding
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants: 82271486 to XL; 81800133 to AH; 31721002 to YL).
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Yige Song, Lanfang Li, Tian Ma, Bing Zhang, Jing Wang and Xiaomei Tang. The project was administrated and supervised by Youming Lu, Aodi He and Xinyan Li. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Xinyan Li and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Yige Song, Lanfang Li, Tian Ma and Bing Zhang contributed equally to this work.
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Song, Y., Li, L., Ma, T. et al. A Novel Mouse Model for Polysynaptic Retrograde Tracing and Rabies Pathological Research. Cell Mol Neurobiol 43, 3743–3752 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10571-023-01384-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10571-023-01384-y