Ministry of Health, Mexico 1 article published in JoVE Neuroscience Unraveling the Role of Discrete Areas of the Rat Brain in the Regulation of Ovulation through Reversible Inactivation by Tetrodotoxin Microinjections Carlos-Camilo Silva*1,2, Montserrat Bolaños-Hurtado*1, Cinthia Juárez-Tapia4, Angélica Flores1,2, Isabel Arrieta-Cruz3,5, María-Esther Cruz3, Roberto Domínguez1,2,3 1Chronobiology of Reproduction Research Lab, Biology of Reproduction Research Unit, Facultad de Estudios Superiores Zaragoza, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 2Developmental Biology Lab, Biology of Reproduction Research Unit, Facultad de Estudios Superiores Zaragoza, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 3Neuroendocrinology Lab, Biology of Reproduction Research Unit, Facultad de Estudios Superiores Zaragoza, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 4Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 5Department of Basic Research, Instituto Nacional de Geriatria, Ministry of Health This protocol describes the construction of a low-cost microinjection system, its stereotaxic implantation into deep-brain structures and the procedure for timed microinjections of tetrodotoxin in awake and unrestrained rats. The goal is to reveal the participation of hypothalamic structures in the regulation of ovulation by inhibiting their neural activity.
