I am interested in showing innervation in the anterior chamber of the eye, in live mice. Is there any dye I could use?
Saman Behboodi Tanourlouee
Fluorescent dextrans: These are high molecular weight polysaccharides that have been labeled with a fluorescent dye. They have been used for anterograde and retrograde tracing of neurons in a variety of systems. They can be injected directly into the tissue of interest and will be taken up and transported by neurons. However, injecting these into the anterior chamber might be challenging. Genetically-encoded fluorescent proteins: You could use mice that express fluorescent proteins under the control of neuron-specific promoters. These include the Thy1-YFP, Thy1-CFP and Thy1-GFP lines, which express yellow, cyan and green fluorescent proteins in subsets of neurons. Alternatively, the Advillin-GFP line expresses GFP in nearly all peripheral sensory neurons, including those innervating the eye. AAV vectors: Adeno-associated viral vectors can be used to transduce neurons with genes encoding fluorescent proteins. They can be injected directly into the tissue of interest and will cause the transduced neurons to express the fluorescent protein. Calcium indicators: Genetically-encoded calcium indicators like GCaMP can also be used to visualize active neurons. These indicators fluoresce when they bind to calcium, which happens when the neuron is active. Like the fluorescent proteins, these can be introduced using genetically modified animals or viral vectors.
Investigating the innervation of the anterior chamber in live mice can indeed be a challenging task due to the small size and delicate nature of the tissue. However, there are several vital dyes and genetically-encoded fluorescent proteins that have been used successfully for in vivo neuronal tracing studies.
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