Transneuronal tracing of diverse CNS circuits by Cre-mediated induction of wheat germ agglutinin in transgenic mice.

Systems neuroscience addresses the complex circuits made by populations of neurons in the CNS and the cooperative function of these neurons. Improved approaches to the neuroanatomical analysis of CNS circuits are thus of great interest. In fact, significant advances in tract-tracing methods have recently been made by using transgenic mice that express transneuronal lectin tracers under the control of neuron-specific promoters. The utility of those animals, however, is limited to the CNS circuit influenced by the particular promoter. Here, we describe a new transgenic mouse that can be used for transneuronal tracing analysis of circuits in any region of the brain or spinal cord. The transgene in these mice results in expression of LacZ in neurons throughout the CNS. Excision of the LacZ gene by Cre-mediated recombination initiates expression of the lectin, wheat germ agglutinin (WGA). To illustrate the diverse uses of these ZW (LacZ-WGA) mice, we triggered WGA expression either by crossing the mice with two Cre-expressing transgenic mouse lines or by microinjecting a Cre-expressing adeno-associated virus into the cerebellum or cerebral cortex. Both approaches resulted in extensive WGA expression in the cell bodies and dendrites of neurons in which the recombination event occurred, as well as anterograde and transneuronal transport of the lectin to second and third order neurons. Because the lectin can be induced in developing and adult animals, and in all regions of the brain and spinal cord, these ZW may prove extremely valuable for numerous studies of CNS circuit analysis.