Antisense oligonucleotide eliminates in vivo expression of c-fos in mammalian brain

Immediate-early genes such as c-fos and NGFI-A are rapidly and transiently expressed in the striatum following amphetamine administration in vivo. Here we show that direct infusion of an antisense oligodeoxynucleotide to c-fos into striatum will reduce amphetamine-induced production of Fos-like immunoreactivity without affecting NGFI-A expression. These results suggest that it is possible to use antisense technology to study the role of immediate-early genes in specific sites in the brain in vivo.