实验仪器使用技术

Dopamine receptors are members of a large family of neurotransmitter/hormone receptors that exert their biological actions via signal transduction pathways that involve subtype-specific guanine nucleotide binding or G proteins (see Kaziro et al., 1991; Simon et al., 1991; Hille, 19 ...

Given their ubiquitous and crucial role in the integration and amplification of signal transduction pathways, it is not surprising that anomalies in the expression and/or function of various G proteins has been implicated in a multitude of pathophysiological states: pseudohypopa ...

Cells are capable of responding to extracellular stimuli because of their ability to detect external information and to transduce this signal to intracellular effectors that may result in the generation of second messengers and/or cause alteration in the cell’s metabolism. The cell su ...

Neurotransmitter receptors contain two main functional components: a ligand binding domain, which specifically recognizes the neurotransmitter, and a signaling component, which translates the binding of the neurotransmitter (or its agonists) into a physiological respo ...

Since Emil Kraepelin coined the term dementia praecox, schizophrenia has been recognized as a group of illnesses of unknown etiology sharing common symptomatology with diverse clinical courses. Family, twin, and adoption studies indicate that genetic factors contribute to the eti ...

Numerous controlled investigations by computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging of living patients suffering from schizophrenia have found quantitative evidence of brain pathology in the form of enlarged third and lateral ventricles and increased cortical marki ...

The purine nucleoside adenosine has been shown to act as a neuromodulator in many areas of the mammalian brain. One of the main actions of adenosine in the central nervous system is the modulation of the release of a variety of neurotransmitters. Adenosine acts as a general depressant in the brain. In co ...

Mood and anxiety disorders are common, severe, chronic, and often life-threatening illnesses. Despite wellestablished genetic diatheses and extensive research, the biochemical abnormalities underlying the predisposition to, and the pathophysiology of, these disorders ...

To determine the cell autonomous and environmental factors that control the differentiation of neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes, we have used neurospheres made of primary neural progenitor cells. These organoids are amenable to the live cell imaging of several paramete ...

In this chapter we describe a technically simple and cost-effective method for quantifying apoptotic and non-apoptotic cell death in primary neuronal cultures. The method consists of three assays: cell viability assay, nuclear morphology assay, and caspase-3 activity assay (Creg ...

We describe the steps in detail to expand human neural stem cells, to bank and cryopreserve the stem cells. The methods described in this protocol represent the latest improvement in tissue culture and molecular biology reagents to help identify specific cell lineages. Specific tissue cul ...

We present our current methods for isolating and culturing cells from the adult and fetal human CNS. The cell isolation procedures used are also well suited to obtain samples for immediate RNA- and protein-based analyses, particularly as techniques to minimize the amount of material needed b ...

In this chapter, the basic tools and methods to isolate neurons from the embryonic rat cortex are provided. We outline the isolation of fresh neuronal cells and their storage, post-thaw maintenance, and the application of techniques to measure intracellular calcium changes in response to t ...

The cell culture study of neuronal activity in health and disease requires careful consideration of the system used. All neurons are definitely not created equal, and isolation of mature neurons from the tissue of interest is crucial to the understanding of that particular population of neu ...

A popular approach to study living neurons involves the preparation of dissociated cultures. If isolated from neonatal or embryonic animals, neurons survive their removal and subsequent dissociation procedures. They grow processes on appropriate substrates, acquire mature n ...

Cellular transplantation is a promising therapeutic strategy for spinal cord injury (SCI); the clinical application of transplantation, however, will require safe and efficient protocols of cell delivery. Lumbar puncture (LP) is a minimally invasive delivery method that allows m ...

The blood–brain barrier (BBB), formed by the endothelial cells of the brain capillaries, restricts access to brain cells of blood-borne compounds and allows only nutrients essential for normal metabolism to reach brain cells. This results in the inability of both small and large therapeut ...

Virus-mediated gene therapies against brain tumors have been limited by the difficulty in tracking glioma cells infiltrating the brain parenchyma. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are particularly attractive cells for clinical use in cell-based therapies because they have tumor- ...

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a functional imaging technique that is used to study biological processes in vivo. Data obtained in a PET scan can provide information regarding tissue physiology or pathophysiology, as well as pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic informati ...

Antibodies have played a key role in receptor research. These immunoglobulms (Ig) frequently have greater affinities and selectivities for receptors than pharmacological probes. They are often the only probes available that can discern proteins with similar structural and phar ...