JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments
Neuroscience
0 views • 3:20 min • August 29th, 2025
Take microsyringes filled with distilled water and connect them to tubings linked to microinjectors.
Press the microsyringe plungers until a water droplet appears at the microinjector tips, then retract the plungers slightly to create an air pocket in the tubings.
Place pads soaked with a toxin-inactivating substance and paraffin films above them.
Pipette tetrodotoxin onto the parafilm and aspirate it into the microinjectors.
Mount the microsyringes onto the microinjection pump and advance the plungers until a drop appears at the microinjector tips. Discard the drops.
Hold an awake female rat with guide cannulas implanted in its hypothalamus.
Insert the microinjectors into the guide cannulas.
Perform the microinjection.
Tetrodotoxin blocks the sodium channels in hypothalamic neurons, preventing neuronal firing.
This inhibition suppresses neurons secreting gonadotropin-releasing hormone, thereby inhibiting ovulation.
Leave the microinjectors in place to prevent backflow. Then, remove them and replace the caps on the guide cannulas.
Configure the microinjection pump with the infusion rate and total time of injection. Then fill 2 10-microliter Hamilton syringes with sterile distilled water and i
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