Ebook: Neurocytochemical Methods

The great strides made in the field of morphological methods during the past decades have perhaps found their most spectacular expression in the functional exploration of the nervous system. In comparison with other tissues, nerve tissue displays three kinds of specificity : structural, because of the unique organization of the neuronal networks ; chemical as shown, for example, by the informative molecules exchanged between the nerve cells, and of course functional, thanks to the particular metabolic and electrophysiological characteristics of the neurons. Although for a long time the structural properties of the nervous system were generally considered to constitute the only field to which morphological techniques could be applied, we are to-day justified in believing that they can also explore the nerve tissue through its specific chemical and functional aspects, thanks to the development of immunocytochemistry and in situ hybridization, to the elaboration of the deoxyglucose method, to the use of voltage or ion sensitive dyes, and to the progress made in the application of in vivo techniques like PET. These methods have evolved so fast, the technical and fundamental problems they raise are so numerous and stimulating, and the importance of the complementary data they provide is so obvious, that we thought it was a good time to organize a new meeting between distinguished specialists in the neurocytochemical field.

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The book is aimed at providing researchers, postgraduate students, neurologists, and biological laboratory staff with accurate and up-to-date descriptions of most recent and powerful neurocytochemical methods: localization and co-localization of neurotransmitters; study of their cellular and sub-cellular interactions; histological and ultrastructural detection of receptors; quantification of mediators;hodology and 3-D reconstruction of neurons; cytofunctional approach of axonal transport, of genic expression, and of physiological effects of neurotransmitters (PET, voltage- or ion-sensitive dyes). The possibilities limits, technical difficulties, and applications of these techniques and of their possible combinations on the same tissue are emphasized.

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The book is aimed at providing researchers, postgraduate students, neurologists, and biological laboratory staff with accurate and up-to-date descriptions of most recent and powerful neurocytochemical methods: localization and co-localization of neurotransmitters; study of their cellular and sub-cellular interactions; histological and ultrastructural detection of receptors; quantification of mediators;hodology and 3-D reconstruction of neurons; cytofunctional approach of axonal transport, of genic expression, and of physiological effects of neurotransmitters (PET, voltage- or ion-sensitive dyes). The possibilities limits, technical difficulties, and applications of these techniques and of their possible combinations on the same tissue are emphasized.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages I-XVI
Development and Application of Antibodies to Primary (DA, L-DOPA) and Secondary (cGMP) Messengers: A technical report....Pages 1-27
Transmitter-Related Retrograde Labeling and Immunohistochemistry to Localize Amino Acid Transmitters in Neural Pathways and Cells....Pages 29-44
Ultrastructural Identification and Quantification of Neuroactive Amino Acids....Pages 45-57
Video-Microscopic Techniques to Study Axonal Transport, Neuronal Fine Structure and Cytochemical Parameters in Live Neurons....Pages 59-73
Investigating the Three-Dimensional Morphology of Fluorescence-Labelled Neurons Using Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy....Pages 75-87
Summary of the Session on Hodology....Pages 89-92
Combined Cytolabeling Methods for Investigating Chemo-Specific Neuronal Interactions and Transmitter Co-Localization....Pages 93-116
Molecular Neuroanatomy of Synapses, Cells and Systems in the Brain....Pages 117-135
Regulated Expression of Transcription Factor and Neurotransmitter Genes in Neural Populations: Studies Using In Situ Hybridization with Radiolabelled Oligonucleotide Probes....Pages 137-142
The Use of Markers to Study the Regulation of Glial Cells in the PNS and CNS....Pages 143-152
Report on the Discussion of the Second Session: Detection of Specific Molecules, and the Second Plenary Lecture: Molecular Neuroanatomy of Synapses, Cells and Systems in the Brain....Pages 153-167
Applications to the Study of Acetylcholine Release of the Choline Oxidase Acetylcholine Assay....Pages 169-182
Morphometric Evaluation of Populations of Neuronal Profiles in the Central Nervous System....Pages 183-195
Microfluorometric Imaging of Time and Space Dependent Calcium Concentration Changes in Mammalian Neurons....Pages 197-207
Report on the Discussion of the Third Session: Quantitative Aspects....Pages 209-221
Immunocytochemistry of Neuropeptide Receptors using Anti-Idiotypic Antibodies and Antibodies to Peptides Encoded by Complementary RNA....Pages 223-224
New Approaches for Receptor Analysis: Histochemistry of the GABA/BZ Receptors in the Rat CNS....Pages 225-240
Report on the Discussion of the Fourth Session: Receptors....Pages 241-262
Extracellular Dyes Induce Photodegeneration and Photopermeabilization of Vertebrate and Invertebrate Neurones....Pages 263-265
A Method to Study Projections of Gabaergic Neurons Using Deletion of the Gaba Immunostaining by Metallic Ions....Pages 267-271
Ultrastructural Immunocytochemical Localization of Choline Acetyltransferase in Sympathetic Ganglia....Pages 273-277
A Dual Immunoperoxidase Labelling Method to Study the Ultrastructural Relationships between Choline Acetyltransferase- and Neuropeptide Y-Containing Neurons in the Rat Striatum....Pages 279-282
Characterization of Microglia and Brain Macrophages....Pages 283-288
Visualization and Quantification of 5-HT1A Receptors in the Rat Brain by Radioimmunohistochemistry....Pages 289-293
Anti-Idiotypic Antibodies against Opioid Receptors: First Ultrastructural Evidence for a Presynaptic Inhibition of Opioids in the Dorsal Horn of the Rat Spinal Cord....Pages 295-299
Antibodies to Complementary Peptide for Labelling Substance P Receptors in the Dorsal Horn of the Rat Spinal Cord for both Light and Electron Microscopy....Pages 301-305
Comparative Ultrastructural Localization of Neuropeptide mRNAs using Tritiated and Biotinylated Oligodeoxynucleotide Probes....Pages 307-311
Use of In Situ Hybridization and Immunohistochemistry to Study the Effects of Intranigral Injections of Colchicine on Enkephalin- and Substance P-Containing Neurons of the Limbic Forebrain....Pages 313-318
Report on the Poster Session....Pages 319-323
Back Matter....Pages 325-328
....Pages 329-335