实验仪器使用技术

Breakdown of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is present in several neurological disorders such as stroke, brain tumors, and multiple sclerosis. Noninvasive evaluation of BBB breakdown is important for monitoring disease progression and evaluating therapeutic efficacy in such di ...

Assessment of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) may involve the localization of endothelial proteins within the context of endothelial permeability to plasma proteins. The use of antibodies conjugated to fluorescent dyes, coupled with analysis by confocal microscopy, allows for the d ...

The blood–nerve barrier (BNB) separates the endoneurium from the endovascular space and the epineurial connective tissue. An intact BNB is very important for integrity and functions of the nerve fibers within the endoneurial space. Disruption of the BNB which leads to functional and stru ...

The rat is a useful model for studies of embryonic blood–CSF function in that the embryos are large enough to collect sufficient fluid samples for analysis and exteriorized embryos can be kept viable for several hours in order to conduct longer term experiments. Both quantitative and qualitat ...

The evaluation of blood–brain barrier (BBB) integrity with contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may prove valuable in the setting of certain brain pathologies, such as brain tumors and acute ischemic stroke. Various MRI protocols have been developed to explore the inte ...

The blood–nerve barrier (BNB) defines the physiological space within which the axons, Schwann cells, and other associated cells of a peripheral nerve function. The BNB consists of the endoneurial microvessels within the nerve fascicle and the investing perineurium. The restricted pe ...

Formation and maintenance of the blood-retinal barrier is required for proper vision and loss of this barrier contributes to the pathology of a wide number of retinal diseases. The retina is responsible for converting visible light into the electrochemical signal interpreted by the brain ...

The choroid plexus (CP) of the blood–CSF barrier (BCSFB) displays fundamentally different properties than blood-brain barrier (BBB). With brisk blood flow (10 � brain) and highly permeable capillaries, the human CP provides the CNS with a high turnover rate of fluid (∼400,000 μL/day) contain ...

Astrocytes were identified about 150 years ago, and, for the longest time, were considered to be supporting cells in the brain providing trophic, metabolic, and structural support for neural networks. Research in the last 2 decades has uncovered many novel molecules in astrocytes and the find ...

Pericytes were described in 1873 by the French scientist Charles-Marie Benjamin Rouget and were originally called Rouget cells. The Rouget cell was renamed some years later due to its anatomical location abluminal to the endothelial cell (EC) and luminal to parenchymal cells. In the brain, p ...

The molecular advances in various aspects of brain endothelial cell function in steady states are considerable and difficult to summarize in one chapter. Therefore, this chapter focuses on endothelial permeability mechanisms in steady states and disease namely vasogenic edema. T ...

Cerebellar slice cultures are a versatile method to study cerebellar cells in an in vitro preparation that preserves many aspects of the microenvironment of the cerebellar tissue. The setup of this slice culture model is easy, possible throughout the first two postnatal weeks in rodents, and ...

We describe a method to isolate and co-culture dissociated hippocampal neurons and cortical astrocytes from young mice (E17 and newborn, respectively). This protocol is useful to investigate the effects of astrocytes on the developmental biology of neurons. By independently isola ...

The most widely used method (the Brockes’ method) for preparing primary Schwann cell culture uses neonatal rat sciatic nerves as the primary source of Schwann cells. The procedure is relatively simple and yields a highly purified population of Schwann cells in a short period of time. The method has ...

This chapter outlines a procedure for initiation of mouse neopallium (cerebral cortex and its underlying white matter) cell cultures and their development into nearly pure microglia cultures. The cytokine CSF-1 is required for the development, survival, and differentiation of mic ...

We describe a technique to isolate two major phenotypically different populations of microglia (type I and type II) in mixed brain culture. Type I microglia have surface markers for mature monocytic cells and produce microglia-specific cytokines. Type II microglia have cell-surface c ...

Oligodendrocyte progenitor cells represent the largest proliferating progenitor population in the postnatal central nervous system. They not only give rise to oligodendrocytes but also have the potential to differentiate into astrocytes or revert to multipotential neural ...

Here, we describe methods to prepare primary cultures of astrocytes and reactive astrocytes. In 1980, McCarthy and de Vellis reported that highly purified cultures of astrocytes and oligodendrocytes can be obtained from neonatal brain tissue. The primary glial cultures prepared with ...

A method for culturing retinal progenitor cells and their progeny is described. The dissociated cell culture is useful to study isolated cells and the influence of cell intrinsic and environmental signals on various cellular processes. The retinal explant assay reproduces the three- ...

We have provided a detailed protocol for the preparation of interface hippocampal slice cultures from young mice or rats and have included modifications of the protocol necessary for culturing electrophysiologically viable slices from older animals. In addition to providing key p ...