Several methods exist to trace projections originating from the soma towards their target areas. These techniques initially relied upon the direct physical injection of various visualizable tracer
molecules (e.g.
green fluorescent protein, lipophylic dyes or radioactively tagged
amino acids) into the
brain. These molecules are absorbed locally by the
soma (cell body) of various neurons and transported to the
axon terminals, or they are absorbed by
axons and transported to the soma of the neuron. Other tracer molecules allow for the visualization of large networks of axonal projections extending from the neurons exposed to the tracer. Alternatively strategies are transsynaptic anterograde tracers, which can cross the synaptic cleft, labeling multiple neurons within a pathway. Those can also be genetic or molecular tracers. Manganese-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MEMRI) has been used to trace functional circuits in living brains, as pioneered by Russ Jacobs, Robia Paultler, Alan Koretsky and
Elaine Bearer. The Mn2+ ion gives a hyperintense signal in T1-weighted MRI and thus serves as a contrast agent. Mn2+ enters through voltage dependent calcium channels, is taken into intracellular organelles and is transported by the endogenous neuronal transport system including kinesin-1, accumulating at distant locations. Statistical parametric mapping of Mn accumulation in time-lapse images provides detailed information not only about neuronal circuitry but also about the dynamics of transport within them, and the location of distal connections. This approach provides information about circuitry throughout the brain in living animals.
Genetic tracers In order to trace projections from a specific region or cell, a genetic construct, virus or protein can be locally injected, after which it is allowed to be transported anterogradely. Viral tracers can cross the synapse, and can be used to trace connectivity between brain regions across many synapses. Examples of viruses used for anterograde tracing are described by Kuypers. Most well known are the
herpes simplex virus type1 (HSV) and the
rhabdoviruses. Another study used HSV type1 and type2 to investigate the
optical pathway: by injecting the virus into the eye, the pathway from the
retina into the brain was visualized. Viral tracers use a receptor on the host cell to attach to it and are then
endocytosed. For example, HSV uses the
nectin receptor and is then endocytosed. After endocytosis, the low pH inside the vesicle strips the envelope of the
virion after which the virus is ready to be transported to the cell body. It was shown that pH and endocytosis are crucial for the HSV to infect a cell. Transport of the viral particles along the axon was shown to depend on the microtubular
cytoskeleton.
Molecular tracers There is also a group of tracers that consist of protein products that can be taken up by the cell and transported across the synapse into the next cell.
Wheat-germ agglutinin (WGA) and
Phaseolus vulgaris leucoagglutinin are the most well known tracers, however they are not strict anterograde tracers: especially WGA is known to be transported anterogradely as well as retrogradely. WGA enters the cell by binding to
oligosaccharides, and is then taken up via endocytosis via a caveolae-dependent pathway. Other anterograde tracers widely used in neuroanatomy are the
biotinylated dextran amines (BDAs), also used in
retrograde tracing. ==Partial list of studies using this technique==