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Selective cell ablation technique.
By making use of the anatomy of the song system, we can induce apoptosis in a single population of neurons in the zebra finch brain. We covalently link a photo-activated compound to latex microspheres, which, when injected into the brain, are taken up by axon terminals and retrogradely transported back to lysosomes in the cell soma. Upon illumination with a laser of the correct wavelength, the photoactive compound reacts with water to release oxygen radicals that damage the lysosomal membranes and induce death via apoptosis. Luckily for us, the neurons responsible for song production reside right on the surface of the brain in a nucleus called HVC, and project caudially to the robust nucleus of the archistriatum (RA). We can inject the killer beads into RA and kill these song neurons by shining a laser beam directly onto the brain surface.
- Neat huh?!
The technique was originally developed by Jeff Macklis and collegues and used in the rodent cortex [1]. More details on the use of this technique in the zebra finch can be found in Scharff et al. 2000. The effects of selective cell ablation on zebra finch song are described in this poster presented at the Gordon Research conference in Neuroethology: Behavior, Evolution & Neurobiology in August 2008 in Oxford, UK.
