Aaron McGee

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Journals/Publications

• Brown, T. C., Crouse, E. C., Attaway, C. A., Oakes, D. K., Minton, S. W., Borghuis, B. G., & McGee, A. W. (2024). Microglia are dispensable for experience-dependent refinement of mouse visual circuitry. Nature neuroscience, 27(8), 1462-1467.
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  To test the hypothesized crucial role of microglia in the developmental refinement of neural circuitry, we depleted microglia from mice of both sexes with PLX5622 and examined the experience-dependent maturation of visual circuitry and function. We assessed retinal function, receptive field tuning of visual cortex neurons, acuity and experience-dependent plasticity. None of these measurements detectibly differed in the absence of microglia, challenging the role of microglia in sculpting neural circuits.
• Ma, X., Chen, P., Wei, J., Zhang, J., Chen, C., Zhao, H., Ferguson, D., McGee, A. W., Dai, Z., & Qiu, S. (2024). Protocol for Xenium spatial transcriptomics studies using fixed frozen mouse brain sections. STAR protocols, 5(4), 103420.
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  Here, we present a protocol for Xenium spatial transcriptomics studies using fixed frozen mouse brain sections. We describe steps for intracardiac perfusion, cryosectioning, and floating section mounting of brain sections, which enable runs on the Xenium analyzer and data delivery. We demonstrate that, in addition to the 10× Genomics-validated formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) and fresh frozen sections, fixed frozen thin brain sections are compatible with the Xenium platform and provide excellent imaging and quantification results for spatially resolved gene expression. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Ma et al..
• Walters, B. N., Whiddon, Z. D., McGee, A. W., & Krimm, R. F. (2024). Longitudinal imaging of the taste bud in vivo with two-photon laser scanning microscopy. PloS one, 19(12), e0309366.
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  Taste bud cells in the tongue transduce taste information from chemicals in food and transmit this information to gustatory neurons in the geniculate ganglion that innervate taste buds. The peripheral taste system is a dynamic environment where taste bud cells are continuously replaced, but further understanding of this phenomenon has been limited by the inability to directly observe this process. To overcome this challenge, we combined chronic in vivo two-photon laser scanning microscopy with genetic labeling of gustatory neurons and taste buds to observe how cells within the taste bud change over time. This method expands the investigative possibilities beyond those offered by fixed-tissue methods. This method permits direct observation of taste bud cell entry, cell differentiation, cell loss, and arbor plasticity. We demonstrate that a few stains/dyes can be used to observe nuclei and organelles in the taste bud in vivo. We also describe a workflow for reconstructing composite z-stacks with grayscale data of both cells and arbors using ImageJ, Neurolucida 360, and Neurolucida Explorer software. Together, the methodology and software options for analyses presented here provide a novel approach for longitudinally observing taste bud cells and arbors in the taste bud in vivo.