- Anterograde tracing
In
neuroscience , anterograde tracing is a research technique which is used to trace neural connections from their source to their point of termination. The opposite technique is "retrograde tracing ", which is used to trace neural connections from their termination to their source. Much of what is currently known about connectionalneuroanatomy was discovered through the use of the anterograde and retrograde tracing techniques.cite book | author = Purves, Dale, George J. Augustine, David Fitzpatrick, William C. Hall, Anthony-Samuel LaMantia, James O. McNamara, and Leonard E. White | title = Neuroscience. 4th ed. | publisher = Sinauer Associates | pages = 16-8 | year = 2008 | id = ISBN 978-0-87893-697-7]The anterograde and retrograde tracing techniques allow the detailed assessment of neuronal connections from a single population of neurons to their various targets throughout the
nervous system . These techniques permit the "mapping" of connections between neurons in a particular structure (e.g. theeye ) and the target neurons in the brain.These techniques initially relied upon the direct physical injection of various visualizable tracer molecules (e.g.
Green fluorescent protein or radioactively taggedamino acids ) into the brain. These molecules are absorbed locally by the soma of various neurons and transported to theaxon terminal s, or they are absorbed byaxon s and transported to the soma of the neuron. Other tracer molecules allow for the visualization of large networks of axonal projections extending from the neurons exposed to the tracer.Partial list of studies using this technique
The anterograde tracing technique is now a widespread research method. A partial list of studies that have used anterograde tracing techniques is given below.
* Deller T, Naumann T, Frotscher M. (November 15, 2000). "Retrograde and anterograde tracing combined with transmitter identification and electron microscopy". Journal of Neuroscience Methods 103(1): 117-26. PMID 11074101.
* Kressel M. (April 1998). "Tyramide amplification allows anterograde tracing by horseradish peroxidase-conjugated lectins in conjunction with simultaneous immunohistochemistry". Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry 46(4): 527-33. PMID 9575040.
* Luppi PH, Fort P, Jouvet M. (November 26, 1990). "Iontophoretic application of unconjugated cholera toxin B subunit (CTb) combined with immunohistochemistry of neurochemical substances: a method for transmitter identification of retrogradely labeled neurons". Brain Res 534(1-2): 209-24. PMID 1705851.
* Murphy MC, Fox EA. (July 30, 2007). "Anterograde tracing method using DiI to label vagal innervation of the embryonic and early postnatal mouse gastrointestinal tract". Journal of Neuroscience Methods 163(2): 213-25. PMID 17418900.
* Smith, Y.; Hazrati, L-N. & Parent, A. (1990). "Efferent projections of the subthalamic nucleus in the squirrel monkey as studied by the PHA-L anterograde tracing method". Journal of Comparative Neurology 294(2): 306–323. doi:10.1002/cne.902940213. PMID 2332533.
References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.