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Rabies

Rabies

Rabies is a lethal zoonotic disease caused by a single-stranded, negative-sense RNA virus of the Lyssavirus genus, within the family Rhabdoviridae. Its primary mode of transmission to humans is through bites or saliva-contaminated scratches from infected mammals such as dogs, bats, raccoons, or foxes. Transmission can also occur if infectious saliva contacts abraded skin or intact mucous membranes, including the conjunctiva.Viral Entry and Early ReplicationOnce introduced at the bite or scratch...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 23, 2026

Viral Tracing of Genetically Defined Neural Circuitry

Viral Tracing of Genetically Defined Neural Circuitry

Published on: October 17, 2012

Quantitative analysis of rabies virus-based synaptic connectivity tracing.

Alexandra Tran-Van-Minh¹, Zhiwen Ye¹, Ede Rancz^1,2

¹1 The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom.

|March 30, 2023

Summary

Quantitative analysis of rabies virus tracing for brain connectivity is unreliable due to variations in starter cell numbers. This study reveals how starter cell counts impact connectivity metrics and proposes a new analysis method for more accurate results.

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Last Updated: Jun 23, 2026

Viral Tracing of Genetically Defined Neural Circuitry

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Published on: October 17, 2012

Transsynaptic Tracing from Peripheral Targets with Pseudorabies Virus Followed by Cholera Toxin and Biotinylated Dextran Amines Double Labeling

Transsynaptic Tracing from Peripheral Targets with Pseudorabies Virus Followed by Cholera Toxin and Biotinylated Dextran Amines Double Labeling

Published on: September 14, 2015

Quantitation of Rabies Virus in Various Bovine Brain Structures

Quantitation of Rabies Virus in Various Bovine Brain Structures

Published on: May 22, 2021

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Systems Neuroscience
Molecular Neuroscience

Background:

Monosynaptically restricted rabies viruses are widely used for tracing synaptic connections.
Quantitative interpretation of rabies virus tracing data is often limited by the lack of consideration for starter cell numbers.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the impact of varying starter cell numbers on quantitative synaptic connectivity tracing using rabies virus.
To develop and validate a principled method for analyzing rabies-derived connectivity data that accounts for starter cell numbers.

Main Methods:

Utilized an experimental dataset with a wide range of starter cell numbers.
Employed descriptive statistics and modeling to analyze the relationship between starter and input cells across the brain.
Validated the proposed analysis method across independent datasets.

Main Results:

Starter cell numbers significantly influence key connectivity metrics such as input fraction and convergence index.
The variability in starter cell numbers compromises the reliability of quantitative comparisons in rabies tracing studies.
A novel analytical approach was developed and validated to address the influence of starter cell numbers.

Conclusions:

Quantitative conclusions from rabies virus tracing experiments are often unreliable without accounting for starter cell numbers.
The proposed method provides a more principled and accurate way to analyze rabies-derived connectivity data.
This work enhances the validity of using rabies virus for studying brain connectivity.