Fig. 6

Fluorescence images of representative slices from the whole brain after H129ΔTK-TT injection in the right VTA of DAT-cre rats. A The diagram of H129ΔTK-TT virus genome that encoded the Cre-dependent tdTomato (red) and TK gene. Black triangles represent LoxP sites. STOP element prevented the expression of exogenous genes. In the presence of cre, STOP was deleted and tdTomato and TK could be expressed. B Cre-dependent td-Tomato expression was observed in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and its downstream regions, which were labeled in red to emphasize the output network of VTA dopaminergic neurons. The network encompasses the bilateral cerebral cortex, bilateral striatum, bilateral pallidum, ipsilateral TH, ipsilateral Hipp, contralateral LOT and contralateral AMY. The nuclei were stained blue by DAPI. The scale bar: 800 μm