| First Author | Stratford JM | Year | 2014 |
| Journal | PLoS One | Volume | 9 |
| Issue | 9 | Pages | e107238 |
| PubMed ID | 25192442 | Mgi Jnum | J:238189 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5818436 | Doi | 10.1371/journal.pone.0107238 |
| Citation | Stratford JM, et al. (2014) Beta-galactosidase staining in the nucleus of the solitary tract of Fos-Tau-LacZ mice is unaffected by monosodium glutamate taste stimulation. PLoS One 9(9):e107238 |
| abstractText | Fos-Tau-LacZ (FTL) transgenic mice are used to visualize the anatomical connectivity of neurons that express c-Fos, an immediate early gene, in response to activation. In contrast to typical c-Fos protein expression, which is localized to the nucleus of stimulated neurons, activation of the c-Fos gene results in beta galactosidase (beta-gal) expression throughout the entire cytoplasm of activated cells in FTL mice; thereby making it possible to discern the morphology of c-Fos expressing cells. This can be an especially important tool in brain areas in which function may be related to cell morphology, such as the primary taste/viscerosensory brainstem nucleus of the solitary tract (nTS). Thus, to further characterize FTL activity in the brain, the current study quantified both beta-gal enzymatic activity as well as c-Fos protein expression in the nTS under a variety of experimental conditions (no stimulation, no stimulation with prior overnight food and water restriction, monosodium glutamate taste stimulation, and monosodium glutamate taste stimulation with perfusion 5 h post stimulation). Contrary to previous research, we found that beta-gal activity (both labeled cell bodies and overall number of labeled pixels) was unchanged across all experimental conditions. However, traditional c-Fos protein activity (both cell bodies and number of activated pixels) varied significantly across experimental conditions, with the greatest amount of c-Fos protein label found in the group that received monosodium glutamate taste stimulation. Interestingly, although many c-Fos positive cells were also beta-gal positive in the taste stimulated group, some c-Fos protein labeled cells were not co-labeled with beta-gal. Together, these data suggest that beta-gal staining within the nTS reflects a stable population of beta-gal- positive neurons whose pattern of expression is unaffected by experimental condition. |
