神经生物学

Dendritic spines act as sites of excitatory neuronal input in many types of neurons. Spine shape correlates with the strength and maturity of synaptic contacts. Thus, evaluation of spine morphology is relevant for studies on neuronal development, for determination of morphological co ...

Cell culture has emerged as an important research method for studying the effects of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on primary neurons. We describe the procedure for preparation of dissociated mixed cell culture from postnatal rat hippocampi. Based on morphological criteria and specific ne ...

High content analysis of neurite outgrowth enables the rapid and comprehensive phenotypic assessment of individual neurons in a multiwell format amenable to high throughput assays. The resulting data are considered “high content” because multiple measurements of neuronal out ...

Immunofluorescence is a technique allowing the visualization of a specific protein or antigen in cells or tissue sections by binding a specific antibody chemically conjugated with a fluorescent dye such as fluorescein isothiocyanate. There are two major types of immunofluoresce ...

Cultured chromaffin cells have been used for almost 40 years in the study of different cell functions using biochemical, electrophysiological, pharmacological, and toxicological approaches. Chromaffin cells are essentially secretory cells that are used to model sympathetic ...

The neurotrophins are a family of closely related proteins that were first identified as survival factors for sympathetic and sensory neurons and have since been shown to control a number of aspects of survival, development, and function of neurons in both the central and peripheral nervous s ...

Neurotrophic factors released by target tissues maintain the survival and differentiation of innervating neurons. The manner by which these target-derived neurotrophic proteins communicate with innervating neurons has been actively pursued for over three decades. The pre ...

Cellular models composed of primary neuronal cultures or neuron-like cell lines are commonly used to study neuron cell death and to test the neuroprotective properties of specific compounds. Cellular models are easily accessible, permitting dissection and modulation of signali ...

This chapter presents fast and easy protocols to obtain highly purified cultures of proliferating adult rat, canine, and human Schwann cells. Cell preparation from predegenerated adult sciatic nerves combined with the use of melanocyte growth medium supplemented with forskolin, f ...

The development of new therapeutics for management of pain is likely to become much more mechanism based, and therefore, we need a more thorough understanding of the different pain development pathways. The afferent fibers of sensory neurons, with their cell bodies in the dorsal root ganglia ( ...

The cell signalling mechanisms underlying mammalian central nervous system axon growth and guidance change during development, such that axons that establish appropriate connectivity in the embryo fail to regenerate after injury to the adult nervous system. The growth cone turni ...

Retinal pigment epithelium cells play a key role in maintaining the normal function of retina and can express several neurotrophic factors, which support the neurosensory retina and may also provide trophic signals to the host dopaminergic neurons. The following chapter describes a pr ...

In retinal diseases characterized by photoreceptor degeneration, the main cause of clinically significant vision loss is cone, rather than rod, loss. Photoreceptor apoptosis can be affected by the availability and/or delivery of neurotrophic proteins, and cultures of photorece ...

Glial cells play a key role in nervous system function, providing neurotrophic factor support to neurons as well as taking part in two-way neuron-glia signaling (e.g., neurotransmitter release). White matter-derived glia are important in certain neurodegenerative diseases invol ...

Central neurons lose the ability for axonal regrowth during development and typically do not regenerate their axons following axotomy once they become mature unless given a growth-permissive environment, for example, a peripheral nerve graft. Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) of the op ...

Spinal cord motor neuron cultures are an important tool for the study of mechanisms involved in motor neuron survival, degeneration and regeneration, volatile anesthetic-induced immobility, motor neuron disorders such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or spinal muscular atro ...

This is perhaps the most beautiful time in human history; it is really pregnant with all kinds of creative possibilities made possible by science and technology.  Jonas Salk’s quotation seems particularly pertinent to recent developments in imaging technology, which have provided both b ...

Throughout our nervous system, excitation and inhibition are exquisitely balanced to enable a multitude of functions. When this balance is disrupted, neurons experience a surplus or a deficit in excitation, either of which can have devastating consequences. In the cortex, excitation a ...

Benign familial neonatal convulsions (BFNC) is caused by mutations in the KCNQ2 (Kv7.2) or KCNQ3 (Kv7.3) genes. These genes encode the KCNQ2 and KCNQ3 subunits that comprise the neuronal M-type potassium channel (M channel). While numerous studies have provided evidence for the inhibitory ...

Many experimental studies of epilepsy are based on rodent models induced by chemical or electrical insult as an instigator of seizures. Although such studies are useful in observing the physiological events that may occur during epileptogenesis, the great complexity of changes that en ...