实验仪器使用技术

Neurotrophins are required by a variety of neuronal types for their survival during development and for the maintenance of normal function in mature animals. Within the nervous system, the neurotrophins are synthesized in limited amounts in postsynaptic cells, glia, or neurons. Within ...

Neurotrophins are a family of neuronal survival and differentiation factors (1,2). The mammalian neurotrophin family consists of four members sharing 50–55% amino acid identity: nerve growth factor (NGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neurotrophin 3 (NT-3), and NT-4/5 ( ...

Identifying signaling molecules that participate in pathways leading from receptor activation to changes in gene expression in cells is the fundamental focus of many research endeavors. For example, neurotrophins interacting with their trk receptors mediate a number of cellular ...

Initial introduction into novel environments produces in zebrafish behaviors consistent with predator evasion, fear, and/or anxiety. This protocol is for a light/dark plus maze novel environment test utilizing two elements of those behavioral responses, thigmotaxis and light a ...

We describe a simple assay for studying and conditioning olfactory behaviors of adult zebrafish. The apparatus consists of a circular flow-through tank into which odorants can be administered in a controlled fashion. Odorants (conditioned stimuli; CS) are repeatedly paired with food ...

This protocol details simple zebrafish conditioned place preference assays for assessing reinforcing properties of drugs of abuse such as ethanol, which can be administered to the tank water. We further describe a conditioned place preference assay of stimulus-induced reinstat ...

Associative learning is a form of classical (Pavlovian) conditioning in which a neutral stimulus (e.g., the color green) is paired with a stimulus of some significance to an animal (e.g., food), such that for the animal, the color becomes synonymous with food to evoke the same innate, reflexive behavi ...

A behavioral assay of responses to chemical alarm cues can be used to test for cognitive functions related to olfaction, learning, and memory. Alarm cues are chemicals released from damaged epithelial tissue. These cues indicate the presence of predation risk because they are released only a ...

This protocol describes the construction of an automated imaging system and two assays for measuring avoidance behaviors in larval zebrafish. The first assay, called the “bouncing ball assay,” measures the response of larvae to a threatening stimulus displayed on an LCD screen. The second ...

We present a method that complements both scoring by observers and automated tracking methods for quantifying behaviors. Based on standard motion enhancement, our algorithm converts a behavioral video recording into a single image (‘videogram’) that maps the spatial distribution ...

Due to physiological and anatomical similarities to other vertebrates, zebrafish are becoming a widely used model in neurobehavioral research. With the growing popularity of zebrafish as experimental subjects, it is important to develop tools that accurately record their behav ...

Three-dimensional reconstruction is a method of qualifying the behavioral activity of several animals including mice, rats, and zebrafish. This method allows for measuring behavioral endpoint data on two types of tracking planes (temporal and spatial). Temporal tracking measur ...

The development of reliable pharmacological screening assays is an important task. However, it is based upon the ability of animal models, such as the zebrafish, to demonstrate predictive validity for a specific set of drug classes. A popular assay used for this purpose is the novel tank diving pa ...

Zebrafish behavioral phenotypes are often evaluated in response to pharmacological modulation by various psychotropic drugs. An important step in this process is the method of drug administration. While the most popular drug administration technique in zebrafish research is by i ...

The light/dark box test, traditionally used to quantify rodent anxiety-like behavior, has recently been applied to the adult zebrafish (Danio rerio). Utilizing the fish’s scototaxis (aversion to bright areas and natural preference for the dark), this paradigm can be used to assess levels of ...

Various novelty-based assays used to quantify zebrafish (Danio rerio) behavior show a striking similarity to behavioral responses in rodents. Exposed to the open field test, zebrafish establish overt homebases demonstrating clear preference for a particular area of the tank. This b ...

The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is rapidly becoming a popular model species in stress and neuroscience research. Their behavior, robustly affected by environmental and pharmacological manipulations, can be paralleled by physiological (endocrine) analysis. Zebrafish have a hypo ...

Adult zebrafish (Danio rerio) are territorial, show aggressive behavior, and establish dominant-subordinate hierarchies. Here, a protocol for a standard opponent setup is described, which enables the identification, characterization, and quantification of agonistic ac ...

Several methods are available for the quantification of neurotrophin mRNA levels. This chapter describes the RNAse protection assay (RPA) first publishcd by Zinn and co-workers (1) and developed further by Melton and co-workers (2). In this method, a radioactively labeled antisense RNA p ...

Neurotrophin mRNAs are expressed at a wide variety of levels in many types of neurons and nonneuronal cells both within the central and peripheral nervous systems as well as in cells unrelated to neuronal function (1–6). However, in mature animals, most tissues synthesize neurotrophin mRNAs ...