神经生物学

The extremely elongated processes of neurons—especially axons—present an unusual challenge to the metabolic machinery of the cell. A consequence of this geometry is that the metabolic and specialized (e.g., transmission) needs of axon terminals are dependent on the perikaryon (the p ...

In this chapter on methods for identifying and mapping receptors, most of the procedures to be described will involve NGF receptors. The current status of knowledge about NGF receptors will be reviewed briefly before describing some of the techniques that yielded this information.

The introduction of recombinant technology has dramatically influenced progress in the studies of many proteins and systems. In the areas of neurochemistry and neurobiology, perhaps the most notable effect has been on work with nerve growth factor (NGF), and its related protein family me ...

The technique of neuronal transplantation provides a powerful tool to deliver many pharmacologically active agents into the brain to address some fundamental questions regarding the basic principles of brain function. For example, grafting of embryonic tissues or cells into the ce ...

The neurotrophins are expressed in many cell types including fibroblasts, Schwann cells, salivary gland secretory cells, glia, and neurons. Neurotrophin gene expression in these cells is regulated developmentally, and once switched on it is regulated by diverse extracellular sig ...

During development of the vertebrate nervous system, neurons are produced in excess and, at a restricted time period, a significant portion degenerate, a phenomenon referred to as naturally occurring cell death (Hamburger, 1975). The neurons that survive this phase are those that form fun ...

Many proteins have “neurotrophic” activities in in vitro or in vivo test systems. Originally these were discovered as certain neurotrophic activities with unknown molecular structures. Nerve growth factor (NGF), brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and ciliary neurotrop ...

Neurotrophic proteins have been broadly defined as those that promote the survival or differentiation of embryonic neurons. The first neurotrophic protein and the protein whose properties are responsible for this definition is nerve growth factor (NGF) (Cohn, 1960). In vivo, NGF parti ...

An injury to neural tissue that disrupts axonal continuity causes disconnection of pre- and postsynaptic elements of a neuronal circuit. The axon also transports to the cell body neurotrophic factors from the innervation territory, and axotomy, by interrupting this trophic supply, may ...

Nonhuman primates are essential experimental models for research dealing with trophic factors, particularly regarding the effects of these factors on higher cognitive functions, including memory. These animals have several advantages over rodents. First, these species are o ...

Nerve growth factor (NGF) was discovered and the concept of neurotrophic factors as retrograde messengers was developed in studies on the peripheral nervous system (PNS). Initial descriptions of biological effects of newly discovered grow factors often are limited to PNS neurons, whe ...

Primary cultures are an important in vitro tool to study cellular processes and interactions. These cultures are complex systems, composed of many cell types, including neurons, astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, microglia, NG2 cells, and endothelial cells. For some studies it is necess ...

Microglia are thought to be involved in diseases of the adult human brain as well as normal aging processes. While neonatal and rodent microglia are often used in studies investigating microglial function, there are important differences between rodent microglia and their adult human co ...

To shorten the time between brain harvesting and microglia isolation, and characterization, we utilized the MACS� neural dissociation kit followed by OctoMACS� CD11b magnetic bead isolation technique to positively select for brain microglia expressing the pan-microglial mar ...

Microglia are the inflammatory cells of the brain and are activated in neuropathological conditions. To study the biology of microglia, these cells can be isolated from the brain and analyzed in terms of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine production, involvement of intracellular sig ...

Despite the fact that microglia cells were first described almost a century ago, microglia-derived immortalized cell lines have only been established in the last two decades. One should be aware of their limitations but also of their advantages. Cell lines offer a potentially powerful tool to ...

Although microglia isolation from embryonic or postnatal mouse brain is possible using a number of different protocols, microglia isolation from adult brain is more challenging and often results in low yields. Here, we describe a protocol to isolate intact microglia from adult mouse bra ...

Microglia are an important component of the innate immune system within the central nervous system (CNS). Isolation and in vitro culturing of microglia can provide insight towards the basic biology of these cells as well as their interactions with neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocy ...

Microglial cell function receives increasing interest. To date, the majority of experiments are performed by using immortalized microglia-like cells or primary microglia prepared from pre- or postnatal rodent brain. As those may not adequately reflect the microglial biology in the ...

Microglia express a variety of ion channels, which can be distinguished based on their ion selectivity into K+, H+, Na+, Ca2+, nonselective cation, and Cl− channels. With respect to their activation mode, voltage-, Ca2+-, calcium release-, G protein-, swelling-, and stretch-activated ion channels ...