Abstract
How our brains work is one of the major unsolved problems of biology. This paper describes some of the techniques of molecular biology that are already being used to study the brains of animals. Mainly as a result of the human genome project many new techniques will soon become available which could decisively influence the progress of neuroscience. I suggest that neuroscientists should tell molecular biologists what their difficulties are, in the hope that this will stimulate the production of useful new biological tools.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (107.9 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Baron U., Schnappinger D., Helbl V., Gossen M., Hillen W., Bujard H. Generation of conditional mutants in higher eukaryotes by switching between the expression of two genes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1999 Feb 2;96(3):1013–1018. doi: 10.1073/pnas.96.3.1013. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Furth P. A., St Onge L., Böger H., Gruss P., Gossen M., Kistner A., Bujard H., Hennighausen L. Temporal control of gene expression in transgenic mice by a tetracycline-responsive promoter. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1994 Sep 27;91(20):9302–9306. doi: 10.1073/pnas.91.20.9302. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hoover J. E., Strick P. L. The organization of cerebellar and basal ganglia outputs to primary motor cortex as revealed by retrograde transneuronal transport of herpes simplex virus type 1. J Neurosci. 1999 Feb 15;19(4):1446–1463. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.19-04-01446.1999. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Izquierdo I., Medina J. H. On brain lesions, the milkman and Sigmunda. Trends Neurosci. 1998 Oct;21(10):423–426. doi: 10.1016/s0166-2236(98)01279-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Jacob F. Evolution and tinkering. Science. 1977 Jun 10;196(4295):1161–1166. doi: 10.1126/science.860134. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Johns D. C., Marx R., Mains R. E., O'Rourke B., Marbán E. Inducible genetic suppression of neuronal excitability. J Neurosci. 1999 Mar 1;19(5):1691–1697. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.19-05-01691.1999. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Miesenböck G., De Angelis D. A., Rothman J. E. Visualizing secretion and synaptic transmission with pH-sensitive green fluorescent proteins. Nature. 1998 Jul 9;394(6689):192–195. doi: 10.1038/28190. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Nirenberg S., Cepko C. Targeted ablation of diverse cell classes in the nervous system in vivo. J Neurosci. 1993 Aug;13(8):3238–3251. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.13-08-03238.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- No D., Yao T. P., Evans R. M. Ecdysone-inducible gene expression in mammalian cells and transgenic mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1996 Apr 16;93(8):3346–3351. doi: 10.1073/pnas.93.8.3346. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Payne B. R., Lomber S. G., Villa A. E., Bullier J. Reversible deactivation of cerebral network components. Trends Neurosci. 1996 Dec;19(12):535–542. doi: 10.1016/s0166-2236(96)10061-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Shockett P., Difilippantonio M., Hellman N., Schatz D. G. A modified tetracycline-regulated system provides autoregulatory, inducible gene expression in cultured cells and transgenic mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1995 Jul 3;92(14):6522–6526. doi: 10.1073/pnas.92.14.6522. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Wilson M. A., Tonegawa S. Synaptic plasticity, place cells and spatial memory: study with second generation knockouts. Trends Neurosci. 1997 Mar;20(3):102–106. doi: 10.1016/s0166-2236(96)01023-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Yoshihara Y., Mizuno T., Nakahira M., Kawasaki M., Watanabe Y., Kagamiyama H., Jishage K., Ueda O., Suzuki H., Tabuchi K. A genetic approach to visualization of multisynaptic neural pathways using plant lectin transgene. Neuron. 1999 Jan;22(1):33–41. doi: 10.1016/s0896-6273(00)80676-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- de Lima A. D., Voigt T., Morrison J. H. Morphology of the cells within the inferior temporal gyrus that project to the prefrontal cortex in the macaque monkey. J Comp Neurol. 1990 Jun 1;296(1):159–172. doi: 10.1002/cne.902960110. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]