Review
Neurosciences
Qing Liu, Yang Wu, Huadong Wang, Fan Jia, Fuqiang Xu
Summary: This review summarizes the recent advancements in viral tools for neural circuit tracing, discusses the key principles of using viral tools in neuroscience research, and highlights innovations in developing and optimizing viral tools for neural circuit tracing across diverse animal species, including nonhuman primates.
NEUROSCIENCE BULLETIN
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Hong Yang, Feng Xiong, Hai-Bin Qin, Qun-Tao Yu, Jin-Yan Sun, Hai-Wen Zhao, Dong Li, Youtong Zhou, Fu-Kun Zhang, Xiao-Wen Zhu, Tong Wu, Man Jiang, Xiangmin Xu, Youming Lu, Hong-Jie Shen, Wen-Bo Zeng, Fei Zhao, Min-Hua Luo
Summary: This study created a novel anterograde monosynaptic tracer (H129-dgK-G4) by targeting glycoprotein K (gK), overcoming the limitations of existing tracers and demonstrating desirable features of strong labeling intensity, high tracing efficiency, and improved anterograde specificity.
MOLECULAR NEURODEGENERATION
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Zhao-yi Chen, Yao-lian Yang, Mai Li, Lu Gao, Wei-min Qu, Zhi-li Huang, Xiang-shan Yuan
Summary: The cholinergic neurons in the nucleus basalis of Meynert (NBM) play a crucial role in cognition and are associated with various neurological disorders. This study used a transgenic mouse model and tracing techniques to investigate the neural connectivity of NBM cholinergic neurons. The results revealed specific inputs from the caudate putamen and the posterior limb of the anterior commissure, as well as widespread axon projections to the cortex mantle. Interestingly, while NBM cholinergic neurons received input projections from certain regions, they sparsely sent axon projections back to these areas. Furthermore, specific cortical regions received abundant inputs from the NBM but sent few outputs back. These findings provide important insights into the connectivity and function of cholinergic neurons in the NBM.
JOURNAL OF NEUROCHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Michaela E. Price, Brian A. McCool
Summary: Chronic intermittent ethanol and withdrawal (CIE/WD) affect glutamatergic function and excitability of basolateral amygdala (BLA) neurons in a projection- and sex-specific manner.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Kyle B. Fischer, Hannah K. Collins, Yan Pang, Dheeraj S. Roy, Ying Zhang, Guoping Feng, Shu-Jing Li, Adam Kepecs, Edward M. Callaway
Summary: Identification of synaptic partners is a fundamental task, but reliable techniques for whole brain labeling of downstream partners in a cell-type-dependent and monosynaptic manner are lacking. In this study, the authors developed a novel anterograde tracing system based on genetic manipulation of a virus, resulting in reliable labeling of postsynaptic partners in a brain-wide fashion. This system provides a valuable tool for studying neural circuits.
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Amalia Callado Perez, Maxime Demers, Arash Fassihi, Jeffrey D. Moore, David Kleinfeld, Martin Deschenes
Summary: The brainstem contains neural circuits that control vital functions' homeostasis, such as breathing depth, rate, and apnea. The reflex for apnea is believed to be mediated by sensory pathways involving vagal and glossopharyngeal afferents, as well as trigeminal afferents from the nasal cavity.
Article
Anatomy & Morphology
Karoline Hovde, Ida V. V. Rautio, Andrea M. M. Hegstad, Menno P. P. Witter, Jonathan R. R. Whitlock
Summary: The mammalian visual system is divided into dorsal and ventral processing pathways. In rodents, visual signals from V1 mainly reach the motor cortex via extrastriate visual areas, but the exact extent and location of this pathway is not well understood.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROANATOMY
(2023)
Article
Cell Biology
Kun-Zhang Lin, Lei Li, Wen-Yu Ma, Xin Yang, Zeng-Peng Han, Neng-Song Luo, Jie Wang, Fu-Qiang Xu
Summary: Analyzing and understanding the brain's neural network is crucial for unraveling brain functioning and identifying brain diseases. Recombinant rabies viral vectors offer a powerful tool for studying synaptic inputs, but their use is limited by long preparation cycles and low yield. To overcome these limitations, a new production system for the CVS-N2c-Delta G virus was developed, demonstrating enhanced efficiency in accessing projection neurons and trans-monosynaptic tracing. The CVS-N2c-Delta G-based toolkit proved versatile in neural circuit studies, showcasing potential for structural and functional investigations.
NEURAL REGENERATION RESEARCH
(2023)
Review
Biology
Yahan Niu, Chang Liu, Rui Zhang, Ying Jing, Donghai Li
Summary: Mitochondrial uncoupling proteins (UCPs) have a potential role in mitochondria-nucleus communications and DNA damage response (DDR), regulating cellular stress and disease development through metabolite modulation and microRNA interactions. Understanding the functions of UCPs may lead to novel therapeutic strategies for DDR-related diseases.
JOURNAL OF BIOSCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Wenqin Du, Elizabeth Li, Jun Guo, Rachel Arano, Yerim Kim, Yuh-Tarng Chen, Alyssa Thompson, So Jung Oh, Aspen Samuel, Ying Li, Hassana K. Oyibo, Wei Xu
Summary: Polysynaptic circuits formed by neurons wired together through multiple orders of synaptic connections are important for brain functions. However, studying polysynaptic connectivity has been challenging due to a lack of continuous tracing methods. In this study, researchers developed an inducible retrograde tracing method using a replication-deficient trans-neuronal virus to examine polysynaptic circuits in the brain. With this method, they identified specific wiring connections between the hippocampus and striatum, two brain systems involved in learning, memory, and navigation. This tool provides a valuable tool for understanding complex brain functions.
CELL REPORTS METHODS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Oliver Bichsel, Lennart H. Stieglitz, Markus F. Oertel, Christian R. Baumann, Roger Gassert, Lukas L. Imbach
Summary: Patients with Parkinson's disease can volitionally control ongoing beta-oscillatory activity through deep brain electrical neurofeedback, leading to a gradual reduction in beta-oscillatory activity and improved motor performance. The strategies acquired through neurofeedback training are retained in the short-term and can result in motor improvement even without neurofeedback, suggesting the therapeutic potential of deep brain neurofeedback for Parkinson patients.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Cell Biology
Guo-Chen Zhu, Da-Jiang Xiao, Bi-Wen Zhu, Yan Xiao
Summary: Acellular nerve allografts achieved satisfactory results in bridging facial nerve defects, but limited allogeneic donors are available. This experiment constructed a monkey model of whole nerve defect and studied xenogeneic acellular nerve grafts. The results showed that xenogeneic acellular nerve grafts were safe and effective for repairing facial nerve defects, similar to autografts.
NEURAL REGENERATION RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Hafsa Er-Rouassi, Luc Benichou, Badiaa Lyoussi, Catherine Vidal
Summary: This study investigated the effects of infrared exposure on functional and axonal regeneration after facial nerve lesion. The findings showed that infrared treatment significantly improved facial nerve recovery, with faster whisker movement recovery and shorter time for nasal deviation and eyelid closure to fully recover. Additionally, normal fluorogold labeling of the facial nuclei complex was restored in the treated animals.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Sevasti Gaspari, Simon Quenneville, Ana Rodriguez Sanchez-Archidona, Bernard Thorens, Sophie Croizier
Summary: This study provides an anatomical and transcriptomic characterization of a subpopulation of PVT neurons defined by the expression of glucokinase (Gck). The results demonstrate that Gck-positive neurons of the anterior PVT (Gck(aPVT)) innervate several nuclei throughout the brain and are enriched in receptors for hypothalamic-derived neuropeptides, adhesion molecules, and obesity and diabetes susceptibility transcription factors. This characterization serves as a basis for understanding the integration of homeostatic and hedonic aspects of energy homeostasis and the potential role of these neurons in obesity and diabetes development.
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Cell & Tissue Engineering
Patrick Aldrin-Kirk, Malin Akerblom, Tiago Cardoso, Sara Nolbrant, Andrew F. Adler, Xiaohe Liu, Andreas Heuer, Marcus Davidsson, Malin Parmar, Tomas Bjorklund
Summary: Transplanting hESC-derived DA neurons in Parkinson's disease using a novel virus vector to observe their projections, revealing potential integration with host circuitry based on differential afferent inputs.
Review
Neurosciences
Jared B. Smith, Kevin D. Alloway, Patrick R. Hof, Rena Orman, David H. Reser, Akiya Watakabe, Glenn D. R. Watson
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY
(2019)
Article
Anatomy & Morphology
Jared B. Smith, Glenn D. R. Watson, Zhifeng Liang, Yikang Liu, Nanyin Zhang, Kevin D. Alloway
FRONTIERS IN NEUROANATOMY
(2019)
Article
Biology
Sho Aoki, Jared B. Smith, Hao Li, Xunyi Yen, Masakazu Igarashi, Patrice Coulon, Jeffery R. Wickens, Tom J. H. Ruigrok, Xin Jin
Review
Neurosciences
Jesse Jackson, Jared B. Smith, Albert K. Lee
ANNUAL REVIEW OF NEUROSCIENCE, VOL 43
(2020)
Article
Neurosciences
Eli J. Muller, Brandon Munn, Luke J. Hearne, Jared B. Smith, Ben Fulcher, Aurina Arnatkeviciute, Daniel J. Lurie, Luca Cocchi, James M. Shine
Article
Neurosciences
Douglas Vormstein-Schneider, Jessica D. Lin, Kenneth A. Pelkey, Ramesh Chittajallu, Baolin Guo, Mario A. Arias-Garcia, Kathryn Allaway, Sofia Sakopoulos, Gates Schneider, Olivia Stevenson, Josselyn Vergara, Jitendra Sharma, Qiangge Zhang, Tom P. Franken, Jared Smith, Leena A. Ibrahim, Kevin J. M. Astro, Ehsan Sabri, Shuhan Huang, Emilia Favuzzi, Timothy Burbridge, Qing Xu, Lihua Guo, Ian Vogel, Vanessa Sanchez, Giuseppe A. Saldi, Bram L. Gorissen, Xiaoqing Yuan, Kareem A. Zaghloul, Orrin Devinsky, Bernardo L. Sabatini, Renata Batista-Brito, John Reynolds, Guoping Feng, Zhanyan Fu, Chris J. McBain, Gord Fishell, Jordane Dimidschstein
NATURE NEUROSCIENCE
(2020)
Article
Anatomy & Morphology
Jared B. Smith, Shubhodeep Chakrabarti, Todd M. Mowery, Kevin D. Alloway
Summary: The basal ganglia, claustrum, and pontocerebellar systems in rats and cats have evolved distinct patterns of sensorimotor cortical convergence.
BRAIN STRUCTURE & FUNCTION
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Edward M. Callaway, Hong-Wei Dong, Joseph R. Ecker, Michael J. Hawrylycz, Z. Josh Huang, Ed S. Lein, John Ngai, Pavel Osten, Bing Ren, Andreas Savas Tolias, Owen White, Hongkui Zeng, Xiaowei Zhuang, Giorgio A. Ascoli, M. Margarita Behrens, Jerold Chun, Guoping Feng, James C. Gee, Satrajit S. Ghosh, Yaroslav O. Halchenko, Ronna Hertzano, Byung Kook Lim, Maryann E. Martone, Lydia Ng, Lior Pachter, Alexander J. Ropelewski, Timothy L. Tickle, X. William Yang, Kun Zhang, Trygve E. Bakken, Philipp Berens, Tanya L. Daigle, Julie A. Harris, Nikolas L. Jorstad, Brian E. Kalmbach, Dmitry Kobak, Yang Eric Li, Hanqing Liu, Katherine S. Matho, Eran A. Mukamel, Maitham Naeemi, Federico Scala, Pengcheng Tan, Jonathan T. Ting, Fangming Xie, Meng Zhang, Zhuzhu Zhang, Jingtian Zhou, Brian Zingg, Darren Bertagnolli, Tamara Casper, Kirsten Crichton, Nick Dee, Dinh Diep, Song-Lin Ding, Weixiu Dong, Elizabeth L. Dougherty, Olivia Fong, Melissa Goldman, Jeff Goldy, Rebecca D. Hodge, Lijuan Hu, C. Dirk Keene, Fenna M. Krienen, Matthew Kroll, Blue B. Lake, Kanan Lathia, Sten Linnarsson, Christine S. Liu, Evan Z. Macosko, Steven A. McCarroll, Delissa McMillen, Naeem M. Nadaf, Thuc Nghi Nguyen, Carter R. Palmer, Thanh Pham, Nongluk Plongthongkum, Nora M. Reed, Aviv Regev, Christine Rimorin, William J. Romanow, Steven Savoia, Kimberly Siletti, Kimberly Smith, Josef Sulc, Bosiljka Tasic, Michael Tieu, Amy Torkelson, Herman Tung, Cindy T. J. van Velthoven, Charles R. Vanderburg, Anna Marie Yanny, Rongxin Fang, Xiaomeng Hou, Jacinta D. Lucero, Julia K. Osteen, Antonio Pinto-Duarte, Olivier Poirion, Sebastian Preissl, Xinxin Wang, Andrew Aldridge, Anna Bartlett, Lara Boggeman, Carolyn O'Connor, Rosa G. Castanon, Huaming Chen, Conor Fitzpatrick, Chongyuan Luo, Joseph R. Nery, Michael Nunn, Angeline C. Rivkin, Wei Tian, Bertha Dominguez, Tony Ito-Cole, Matthew Jacobs, Xin Jin, Cheng-Ta Lee, Kuo-Fen Lee, Paula Assakura Miyazaki, Yan Pang, Mohammad Rashid, Jared B. Smith, Minh Vu, Elora Williams, Ethan Armand, Tommaso Biancalani, A. Sina Booeshaghi, Megan Crow, Sandrine Dudoit, Stephan Fischer, Jesse Gillis, Qiwen Hu, Peter Kharchenko, Sheng-Yong Niu, Vasilis Ntranos, Elizabeth Purdom, Davide Risso, Hector Roux de Bezieux, Saroja Somasundaram, Kelly Street, Valentine Svensson, Eeshit Dhaval Vaishnav, Koen Van den Berge, Joshua D. Welch, Zizhen Yao, Xu An, Helen S. Bateup, Ian Bowman, Rebecca K. Chance, Nicholas N. Foster, William Galbavy, Hui Gong, Lin Gou, Joshua T. Hatfield, Houri Hintiryan, Karla E. Hirokawa, Gukhan Kim, Daniel J. Kramer, Anan Li, Xiangning Li, Qingming Luo, Rodrigo Munoz-Castaneda, David A. Stafford, Zhao Feng, Xueyan Jia, Shengdian Jiang, Tao Jiang, Xiuli Kuang, Rachael Larsen, Phil Lesnar, Yaoyao Li, Yuanyuan Li, Lijuan Liu, Hanchuan Peng, Lei Qu, Miao Ren, Zongcai Ruan, Elise Shen, Yuanyuan Song, Wayne Wakeman, Peng Wang, Yimin Wang, Yun Wang, Lulu Yin, Jing Yuan, Sujun Zhao, Xuan Zhao, Arun Narasimhan, Ramesh Palaniswamy, Samik Banerjee, Liya Ding, Dhananjay Huilgol, Bingxing Huo, Hsien-Chi Kuo, Sophie Laturnus, Xu Li, Partha P. Mitra, Judith Mizrachi, Quanxin Wang, Peng Xie, Feng Xiong, Yang Yu, Stephen W. Eichhorn, Jim Berg, Matteo Bernabucci, Yves Bernaerts, Cathryn Rene Cadwell, Jesus Ramon Castro, Rachel Dalley, Leonard Hartmanis, Gregory D. Horwitz, Xiaolong Jiang, Andrew L. Ko, Elanine Miranda, Shalaka Mulherkar, Philip R. Nicovich, Scott F. Owen, Rickard Sandberg, Staci A. Sorensen, Zheng Huan Tan, Shona Allen, Dirk Hockemeyer, Angus Y. Lee, Matthew B. Veldman, Ricky S. Adkins, Seth A. Ament, Hector Corrada Bravo, Robert Carter, Apaala Chatterjee, Carlo Colantuoni, Jonathan Crabtree, Heather Creasy, Victor Felix, Michelle Giglio, Brian R. Herb, Jayaram Kancherla, Anup Mahurkar, Carrie McCracken, Lance Nickel, Dustin Olley, Joshua Orvis, Michael Schor, Greg Hood, Benjamin Dichter, Michael Grauer, Brian Helba, Anita Bandrowski, Nikolaos Barkas, Benjamin Carlin, Florence D. D'Orazi, Kylee Degatano, Thomas H. Gillespie, Farzaneh Khajouei, Kishori Konwar, Carol Thompson, Kathleen Kelly, Stephanie Mok, Susan Sunkin
Summary: This study presents a multimodal cell census and atlas of the mammalian primary motor cortex, integrating various molecular and spatial information to reveal a unified genetic landscape of cortical cell types. The results establish a mechanistic framework of neuronal cell-type organization by linking molecular genetic information with phenotypic properties.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Zhuzhu Zhang, Jingtian Zhou, Pengcheng Tan, Yan Pang, Angeline C. Rivkin, Megan A. Kirchgessner, Elora Williams, Cheng-Ta Lee, Hanqing Liu, Alexis D. Franklin, Paula Assakura Miyazaki, Anna Bartlett, Andrew Aldridge, Minh Vu, Lara Boggeman, Conor Fitzpatrick, Joseph R. Nery, Rosa G. Castanon, Mohammad Rashid, Matthew W. Jacobs, Tony Ito-Cole, Carolyn O'Connor, Antonio Pinto-Duartec, Bertha Dominguez, Jared B. Smith, Sheng-Yong Niu, Kuo-Fen Lee, Xin Jin, Eran A. Mukamel, M. Margarita Behrens, Joseph R. Ecker, Edward M. Callaway
Summary: By combining retrograde labeling with single-nucleus DNA methylation sequencing, researchers were able to identify unique epigenetic signatures of projection neurons that corresponded to their laminar and regional location and projection patterns. These findings helped to distinguish intra-telencephalic cells projecting to different cortical targets and confirmed the correlation between L5ET cortical neurons and their axonal projections.
Editorial Material
Neurosciences
Jared B. Smith, Yoland Smith, Laurent Venance, Glenn D. R. Watson
FRONTIERS IN SYSTEMS NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Correction
Neurosciences
Douglas Vormstein-Schneider, Jessica D. Lin, Kenneth A. Pelkey, Ramesh Chittajallu, Baolin Guo, Mario A. Arias-Garcia, Kathryn Allaway, Sofia Sakopoulos, Gates Schneider, Olivia Stevenson, Josselyn Vergara, Jitendra Sharma, Qiangge Zhang, Tom P. Franken, Jared Smith, Leena A. Ibrahim, Kevin J. Mastro, Ehsan Sabri, Shuhan Huang, Emilia Favuzzi, Timothy Burbridge, Qing Xu, Lihua Guo, Ian Vogel, Vanessa Sanchez, Giuseppe A. Saldi, Bram L. Gorissen, Xiaoqing Yuan, Kareem A. Zaghloul, Orrin Devinsky, Bernardo L. Sabatini, Renata Batista-Brito, John Reynolds, Guoping Feng, Zhanyan Fu, Chris J. McBain, Gord Fishell, Jordane Dimidschstein
NATURE NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Bradley S. Hollidge, Hayley B. Carroll, Randolph Qian, Madison L. Fuller, April R. Giles, Andrew C. Mercer, Olivier Danos, Ye Liu, Joseph T. Bruder, Jared B. Smith
Summary: Understanding the kinetics and durability of AAV-mediated transgene expression in the brain is crucial for basic neuroscience studies and gene therapy approaches for CNS diseases. This study characterizes the temporal profile of transgene expression after AAV injections in the mouse striatum and compares the efficacy of different promoters. The results reveal that the CAG promoter shows the highest initial expression, while the hSyn promoter demonstrates long-term durability. Additionally, the processing of vector genomes into circular episomes and concatemers is a dynamic process that continues up to 3 months post-injection.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Yosuke Niibori, Robert Duba-Kiss, Joseph T. Bruder, Jared B. Smith, David R. Hampson
Summary: In this study, several novel GABAergic gene promoters were designed using in silico analyses. These promoters were tested using rAAV vectors in mice and showed high specificity and expression in multiple brain regions. This study provides a promising approach for gene therapy targeting GABA-associated disorders.
MOLECULAR THERAPY-METHODS & CLINICAL DEVELOPMENT
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Celine Boileau, Severine Deforges, Angelique Peret, Didier Scavarda, Fabrice Bartolomei, April Giles, Nicolas Partouche, Justine Gautron, Julio Viotti, Haley Janowitz, Guillaume Penchet, Cecile Marchal, Stanislas Lagarde, Agnes Trebuchon, Nathalie Villeneuve, Julie Rumi, Thomas Marissal, Roustem Khazipov, Ilgam Khalilov, Fanny Martineau, Marine Marechal, Anne Lepine, Mathieu Milh, Dominique Figarella-Branger, Etienne Dougy, Soutsakhone Tong, Romain Appay, Stephane Baudouin, Andrew Mercer, Jared B. Smith, Olivier Danos, Richard Porter, Christophe Mulle, Valerie Crepel
Summary: This study aims to reduce chronic epileptic discharges in TLE patients by downregulating KARs in the hippocampus using gene therapy. The results demonstrate that gene silencing strategy can inhibit chronic seizures in a mouse TLE model and IEDs in cultured slices derived from TLE patients.
ANNALS OF NEUROLOGY
(2023)
Editorial Material
Clinical Neurology
Jared B. Smith, Laura Cancedda, Sergiusz Jozwiak, Andrew C. Mercer
FRONTIERS IN NEUROLOGY
(2023)