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Abstract

Neuroscience

Whole Central and Peripheral Nervous System Mice Dissection

Published: February 24th, 2023

DOI:

10.3791/64974

1Department of Biochemistry and Functional Genomics, Université de Sherbrooke, 2Department of Dermatology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 3Department of Pathology, Université de Sherbrooke, 4Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier de Universitaire de Sherbrooke, Université de Sherbrooke, 5Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 6UTSW Comprehensive Neurofibromatosis Clinic, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 7Hamon Center for Regenerative Science and Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas

* These authors contributed equally

Abstract

Animal models represent the workhorse of the neuroscience field. Despite this, today, there is still no step-by-step protocol to dissect a complete rodent nervous system, nor is there a complete schematic representing it that is freely available. Only methods to harvest the brain, the spinal cord, a specific dorsal root ganglion, and the sciatic nerve (separately) are available. Here, we provide detailed pictures and a schematic of the central and peripheral murine nervous system. More importantly, we outline a robust procedure to perform its dissection. The 30 min pre-dissection step allows isolating the intact nervous system within the vertebra with muscles free of viscera and skin. A 2-4 h dissection follows it under a micro-dissection microscope to expose the spinal cord and the thoracic nerves, and finally peel the whole central and peripheral nervous system off the carcass. This protocol represents a significant step forward in studying the anatomy and pathophysiology of the nervous system globally. For example, the dissected dorsal root ganglions from a neurofibromatosis type I mice model can be further processed for histology to unravel changes in tumor progression.

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Keywords Whole Nervous System Dissection

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