Exam 1 - Lecture 1: Development Techniques Flashcards
What are common animal models of neurodevelopment?
mouse, zebrafish, chicken, frog, fruitfly, and nematode
Ways to study human brain development
Human cell cultures, cerebral organoids, nonivasive imaging, xenografts
Postmortem Tissue Benefits and Weaknesses
Benefits: well preserved anatomy, contains informative molecules, proteins, high resolution
Weaknesses: dead, unique life experiences
Human Cell Culture Definition
Dissasociated immortalized cells growing in a dish
Human Cell Culture Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths: able to study live human neurons and many types of experimental manipulation
Weaknesses: about as far from real 3D tissue envrionment as it gets
Cerebral Organoids Definition
3D tissue culture from human neural stem cells
Cerebral Organoids Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths: able to study live human neurons and many types of experimental manipulation
Weaknesses: may not recapitulate some aspects of normal development
Non-invasive imaging (MRI, PET scans) Strengths and weaknesses
Strengths: able to study live human brain over time in the same individual, some experimental manipulation
Weaknesses: low resolution
Xenografts
human tissue is placed in the mouse brain
Xenografts Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths: able to study live human neurons and manipulate experimentally
Weaknesses: growth might be different due to neurons being dissociated or growing in mice
Main requirements for Anatomy and Physiology
Anatomy: whole intact tissue (not in a dish)
Physiology: live cells
Ways to study whole intact tissue
Blocking slabs, dissecting - human hippocampus example
What does histology allow you to see?
human hippocampus stained
What are different types of histology?
Common structural stains: H&E
Hematoxalin: (Blue - stains nuclei)
Eosin: (pink - stains cytosol and extracellular matrix)
Pathology standard
What is a common structural stain for histology?
Nissl stains - multiple dyes reveal Nissl substance
Nissl: bound ribosomes and DNA