Stereotaxic Adeno-associated Virus Injection and Cannula Implantation in the Dorsal Raphe Nucleus of Mice.
Stereotaxic Adeno-associated Virus Injection and Cannula Implantation in the Dorsal Raphe Nucleus of Mice.
复制标题
DOI：
10.21769/bioprotoc.2549
复制
发表时间：
2017-09-20
期刊：
影响因子：
0.8
通讯作者：
Mainen ZF
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Correia PA;Matias S;Mainen ZF
Optogenetic methods are now widespread in neuroscience research. Here we present a detailed surgical procedure to inject adeno-associated viruses and implant optic fiber cannulas in the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) of living mice. Combined with transgenic mouse lines, this protocol allows specific targeting of serotonin-producing neurons in the brain. It includes fixing a mouse in a stereotaxic frame, performing a craniotomy, virus injection and fiber implantation. Animals can be later used in behavioral experiments, combined with optogenetic manipulations or monitoring of neuronal activity. The described procedure is a fundamental step in both optogenetic and fiber photometry experiments of deep brain areas. It is optimized for serotonin neurons in the DRN, but it can be applied to any other cell type and brain region. When using transgenic mouse lines that express functionally relevant levels of optogenetic tools or reporter lines, the virus injection step can be skipped and the protocol is reduced to the cannula implantation procedure.
