I am trying to do some molecular analyses from brain tissue activated with DREADDs, and I am wondering how large is the spread of a single stereotaxic injection of the AAV-DREADD. For example, if I target the infralimbic or prefrontal cortex, what kind of volume am I expected to have DREADD expression in?
Hi Samuel Kohtala ,
The heterogeneity of DREADD expression and region of influence in disparate brain regions with different types and densities of neurons makes it rather difficult to answer your question with certainty. This is being much tricky when we talk about PFC and cortical layers with different neurons and other cells.
Also, differences in tropism of various serotype AAVs and pseudotyped lentiviral particles would be observed as one vector being effective in one area like PFC and the other would not. I suppose that even cell-type specific DREADDs would not be a definitive resolution.
Please check the histological section of the following paper:
Article DREADDS: Use and application in behavioral neuroscience
However, back to answering your question, it has been reported that the IHC staining of CaMKII indicated that 70% of mPFC pyramidal neurons in the proximity of the injection sites were DREADD positive:
https://www.jneurosci.org/content/jneuro/38/26/5939.full.pdf
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