神经生物学

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques comprise some of the most powerful tools in molecular biology research. PCR is characterized primarily by the ability of polymerases to amplify specified regions of DNA both rapidly and efficiently and overcomes the lengthy procedures usu ...

Cells can be defined as “stem cells” when able to self-renew and differentiate into tissue-characteristic cells. Neural stem cells (NSCs) derived from the nervous system are able to generate neuronal and glial cells and are present not only in the developing nervous system, but also in specific r ...

The nervous system is a frequent target of industrial chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and environmental pollutants. To screen large numbers of compounds for their neurotoxic potential, in vitro systems are required which combine organ-specific traits with robustness and high repr ...

Cell cultures are widely used in biomedical research. Primary cultures are directly obtained from fresh tissue and reproduce during days or weeks the major characteristics of the original tissue cells. Primary cell culture systems have shown their usefulness for studying the specific ...

Movement disorders such as Parkinson’s Disease (PD) result, in part, from the selective loss of dopaminergic (DA) neurons. Many studies associated with DA neurodegeneration and neurotoxicity have successfully applied the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans to address PD-re ...

Located at the level of brain capillaries, the blood–brain barrier (BBB) is a crucial component of the neurovascular unit, since its highly regulated properties are needed to maintain optimal conditions for proper neuronal and glial functions. Therefore, understanding BBB features a ...

The choroid plexus epithelium forms the interface between the blood and the cerebrospinal fluid. In addition to its barrier function resulting from the presence of tight junctions sealing the epithelial cells together, the choroid plexus epithelium fulfills vectorial transport ( ...

Recent advances in techniques to introduce nucleic acids into cultured cells have significantly contributed to understanding the roles of genes (and their encoded proteins) in maintaining cellular homeostasis. The objective of this chapter is to provide methodological strate ...

The protein kinase C (PKC) family members include at least 11 different isoforms that, based on their different requirements for activation, have been divided into three subfamilies, the Ca2+-dependent (cPKCα, (βI, βII, and γ), the Ca2+-independent (nPKCδ,ɛ,η,θ, and μ), and phorbol ester-ins ...

It is customary to credit Rudolf Virchow (1) with the discovery of neuroglia (see ref. 2). As a practicing pathologist who was familiar with inflammatory processes in the brain, Virchow opposed his contemporaries’ assertion that the brain was void of connective tissue. He hypothesized that un ...

The free-radical gas nitric oxide (NO) recently has been identified as an important biological messenger molecule in both the central and peripheral nervous system. NO is generated by the enzyme NO synthase (NOS) by the oxidation of the amino acid L-arginine. As a dissolved gas, NO is an unusual neur ...

The distribution of Ca2+ within the cell is complex and involves binding to cell macromolecules and compartmentalization within the subcellular organelles (1). Normal physiological functions of the cell are regulated by changes in intracellular free Ca2+ (i), which ranges from 0.1 to 0.3 � ...

Cells maintain low concentrations of intracellular free calcium (i) by the effective operation of Ca2+ pumps located in plasma membrane as well as intracellular organelles, such as mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum (microsomes) (1,2). Under normal conditions, Ca2+ enters the c ...

Target-cell response to a number of neurotransmitters, growth factors, hormones, and other stimuli are initiated by cell-surface receptor-mediated activation of phospholipase C (PLC) and the rapid hydrolysis of phosphoinositides (1–3). The activation of PLC by receptors for most n ...

Immunoassays are techniques for measuring the concentration or activity of a substance using immunological reactions. Several types of immunoassay are commonly used, including precipitation assays using antibody/antigen complexes, agglutination assays using coated e ...

Neurodegenerative disorders are characterized by damage to selective neuronal populations (1) that could be followed or proceeded by synaptic injury (2). The mechanisms triggering cell death and synaptic damage in these disorders might be related to gain of a toxic property and/or loss of ...

Specific recognition of cell-surface molecules with other cells or extracellular matrix (ECM) is fundamental for cellular motility, reorganization, and proliferation. To carry out these actions, cells often displace space previously occupied by cells or the ECM, thus proteolys ...

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has become an indispensable tool of molecular biology (1–5). Since its discovery in 1985 the process has found its integration into all research areas involving the use of DNA and RNA. Using this technique, a small starting sample of DNA or RNA can be used to amplify a spe ...

Microdialysis is a perfusion-based sampling procedure that is now used routinely to study the chemistry of the extracellular environment of a variety of tissues in the living organism (1,2). A microdialysis probe (consisting of an inlet and outlet tube connected by an area of semipermeable m ...

Glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system (CNS). Glutamate binds to and activates receptors coupled to both ligand-gated ion channels (ionotropic) and G proteins (metabotropic). The ionotropic glutamate receptors are permeable to cation ...