Background: The applied multidisciplinary approach in neuroscience has tackled the regeneration enigma in the central nervous system for decades. Reported regeneration potential in mammals is lacking confirmation without a suitable paradigm. In vivo fetal experimentation offers an almost insurmountable drawback, though its feasibility has been shown long ago. New method: Following two former technical papers on fetal surgery, here we present dorsal myelotomy in fetal rat and antegrade HRP-tracing as a suitable paradigm to reveal the intrinsic regenerative program in DRG neurons. Moreover, disclosing the spatio-temporal development of the primary afferent system appeared as an unexpected feature of the design.
Conclusion: this paper underlines the feasibility that fetal experimentation may offer a new venue for research into the rat transcriptome.
Keywords: Antegrade HRP tracing; Axon regeneration; Cleft palate; Development; Dorsal myelotomy; Dorsal root ganglia; Fetal rat surgery; Hypoxia; Pregnant rat; Primary afferent system; Spinal Cord Injury; Transcriptomic perturbation.
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