实验仪器使用技术

In combination with bioinformatics and molecular biological techniques proteomic approaches become more and more indispensable in order to deepen our understanding of cellular functions. Since the cytoskeleton is presented by a highly dynamic network, engaged in many basic cel ...

In this chapter, we summarize and describe various methods that have been used to detect glycocalyx and to study the interactions between glycocalyx and actin cytoskeleton with the emphasis in the nervous tissue. We highlight two methodologies to analyze the direct interaction between g ...

Here we present a detailed guide for performing in vitro trafficking assays. These are high-resolution light microscopy assays designed to look at the cytoskeletal filament-based trafficking of cellular organelles. The strategy is to partially purify organelles from lysed mamma ...

Visualization of cytoskeletal dynamics in real time is of paramount interest in cell biological research. With the aid of fluorescent-cytoskeletal fusion proteins and enhancement of confocal laser scanning microscopes with high-end objectives and cell-incubation chamber ...

The visual evoked potential (VEP) is recorded in humans in response to flash or pattern stimuli with appropriately placed electrodes over the occipital scalp. In recent years the multifocal VEP (mfVEP) has been developed as a means of obtaining focal responses rather than just a summed respon ...

Stroke is one of the leading causes of acquired motor disability worldwide. With no cure, the only way to recover motor function is through rehabilitation. Recent trials of Wii-based movement therapy have demonstrated improved functional ability that has transferred to greater indepe ...

The visual evoked potential (VEP) is an electronic potential recorded from the visual cortex in response to a visual stimulus. It provides a means to examine the function of the visual pathway from the retina to the occipital cortex. The most common animals employed in VEP laboratory studies are ra ...

Significant changes in afferent nerve activity and/or neuronal sensitization occur in response to peripheral injury and inflammation. One approach to study of sensitized nerve responses is to record increased peripheral nerve activity in vivo in experimental animal models with e ...

Chronic neuropathic pain is a frequent outcome of nervous system injury affecting the somatosensory system, and its pathobiology is dependent on activation and disinhibition of nociceptive neurons. It is characterised by spontaneous pain, dysaesthesia/paraesthesia as well as ...

Heart rate variability and baroreflex sensitivity are two readily accessible methods available to assess control of heart rate by the autonomic nervous system. Heart rate variability can provide information regarding neural (parasympathetic, sympathetic, reflex) and nonne ...

Motor unit number estimation (MUNE) techniques estimate the number of motor units innervating a single muscle or a group of muscles. As such, MUNE techniques are commonly used to quantify the loss of motor units in disease. MUNE requires obtaining and analysing neurophysiological recordi ...

A powerful method to study the role of the autonomic nervous system in preservation of homeostasis is to directly record sympathetic nerve activity (SNA) to various organs. This chapter will introduce methods to analyze the multi-fiber sympathetic nerve activity that is differential ...

Here we describe two Neurobiotin electroporation techniques for combined analysis of neuronal structure and function in 300-μm-thick brain slices during development, using mouse hypoglossal (XII) motoneurons as a model. Individual neurons were studied with patch electrodes ...

There is an increasing tendency to combine multidisciplinary methods in studying the central nervous systems. One recently developed technique is the combination of electrophysiological and pharmacological investigations by making intracellular recording during ex ...

Putative sympathetic premotor neurons in the rostral ventrolateral medulla are critically important in the regulation of sympathetic vasomotor tone and are responsible for mediating many cardiovascular reflexes. In the rat, these neurons lie within a small area of the brainstem im ...

Characterisation of the phenotype and physiological responsiveness of a neuron and identification of its innervation target(s) are important objectives for neuroscientists. This chapter describes the technique of juxtacellular neuronal labelling and presents proced ...

Manipulation of intracellular signalling pathways and ligand protein interactions can lead to new therapeutic strategies in many cardiovascular diseases. One of the most commonly used methods, performed on different disease models of rat, is the microinjection of various agoni ...

Despite the advent of transgenic gene manipulation in vivo and in vitro and the rapid rise of RNA interference, in order to target protein function by ablation or suppression of specific gene products, pharmacological manipulation of G protein-coupled signalling pathways remains a hig ...

Many laboratories around the world use baroreceptor denervation in their investigations of the cardiovascular system. The most common method, performed in the rat, is a permanent denervation where the carotid sinus and aortic depressor nerves are transected. Here, we describe detai ...

Microinjection of the excitatory amino acid glutamate is commonly used to stimulate neuronal cell bodies in brainstem nuclei that are crucial for cardiovascular regulation, respiratory control, and other functions. One such nucleus, the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM), in ...