A vibrant green pyramidal neuron with extensive branching dendrites and an apical dendrite, against a white background, with a 50 5m scale bar.

Generate a stunning confocal fluorescence micrograph of a single, fully reconstructed pyramidal neuron from the somatosensory cortex of a transgenic mouse. The neuron labeled using a Cre-dependent AAV vector expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) under the control of the CaMKIIα promoter, ensuring selective expression in excitatory neurons. The cell body (soma), approximately 20 µm in diameter, sitting at the center, giving rise to a single apical dendrite that ascends toward the cortical surface and branches extensively in layer I. Numerous basal dendrites radiate horizontally from the base of the soma, forming a dense dendritic arbor rich in dendritic spines—tiny protrusions that serve as postsynaptic sites for excitatory synapses. The axon, thinner and less branched near the soma, projecting downward into the white matter (do not show it), destined for subcortical targets. The image as acquired using a 63× oil-immersion objective on a Zeiss LSM 980 confocal microscope, with z-stack projection and deconvolution to enhance resolution and contrast. Scale bar: 50 µm. The neuron appearing in vibrant green against a white background highlighting the exquisite complexity of its morphology, as a direct visualization of biological structure. The image should be typical in journals like Nature Neuroscience, Neuron, or Journal of Comparative Neurology, where structural neurobiology and advanced imaging techniques are showcased. See more