Neurotropism and Expression Pattern of lacZ Inserted PRV-Bartha in Geniculohypothalamic Tract Tracing

To localize the connection between intergeniculate nucleus and suprachisasmatic nucleus through geniculohypothalamic tract in postnatal mongolian gerbil, we injected lacZ inserted PRV-Bartha strain into suprachiasrnatic nucleus and tried to immunostain against it with Rb134 and mouse $anti-{\beta}-galactosidase$. The numbers of immunoreactive neurons in intergeniculate leaflet were $8{\pm}3.2$ in P1 Period, $10{\pm}4.1$ in P3 Period and $13{\pm}6.2$ in P7 Period, and was statistically significant (p<0.05) and had tendency to increase with time consuming. The results showed that intergeniculate leaflet had projected some axons into suprachiasrnatic nucleus through geniculohyptothalamic tract in postnatal mongolian gerbil. But we could not exclude the possibility of direct projections from dorsal and ventral geniculate nuclei into suprachisamatic nucleus completely.