Learn & Share: Neuroscience
The nervous system is a tightly regulated, highly complex network. Besides gaining knowledge of the single neuronal cell, the understanding of the network as a whole is of major importance to understand how billions of neurons perform their task in the brain, how changes on molecular level are connected with pathogenesis and how neuronal networks are capable of learning and memory. With the help of microscopic techniques scientists are encountering many exciting questions, whose answers they are putting together like pieces of a puzzle.
Cellular Motility: Microtubules, Motor Proteins and Tau-Proteins
Cellular motility is based on motor-proteins that can bind to filamentous scaffold proteins and – under consumption of ATP – can “crawl” on these filaments. This note is about proteins connected to…Read article
Laser Microdissection Publication List
This monthly updated reference list demonstrates the major application fields for laser microdissection in life science research.Read article
Zebrafish Brain - Whole Organ Imaging at High Resolution
Structural information is key when one seeks to understand complex biological systems, and one of the most complex biological structures is the vertebrate central nervous system. To image a complete…Read article
Clap On, Clap Off. Protein On, Protein Off
Unlike genetic or pharmacological manipulation, light-controlled proteins respond immediately, can be temporally and spatially triggered, are reversible, and are specific to the protein of interest.…Read article
Clarifying Tissue Clearing
Biological specimens are intrinsically three dimensional; however because of the obscuring effects of light scatter, imaging deep into a tissue volume is problematic. Although efforts to eliminate the…Read article
Quantitative Analysis of PPT1 Interactome in Human Neuroblastoma Cells
Application example of HyVolution Super-Resolution - Mutations in the CLN1 gene that encodes Palmitoyl protein thioesterase 1 (PPT1) or CLN1, cause Infantile NCL (INCL, MIM#256730). PPT1 removes long…Read article
Multiphoton Microscopy Publication List
Multiphoton Microscopy is an advanced technique for imaging thick samples. Applications range from the visualization of the complex architecture of the whole brain to the study of tumor development…Read article
Botulinum Neurotoxin Type-A Enters a Non-Recycling Pool of Synaptic Vesicles
Neuronal communication relies on synaptic vesicles undergoing regulated exocytosis and recycling for multiple rounds of fusion. Whether all synaptic vesicles have identical protein content has been…Read article
Clearing of Fixed Tissue: A Review from a Microscopist’s Perspective
Chemical clearing of fixed tissues is becoming a key instrument for the three-dimensional reconstruction of macroscopic tissue portions, including entire organs. Indeed, the growing interest in this…Read article
Symmetric Synapse - Clathrin Coated Endocytosis Pit in the Postsynaptic Dendrite
Application Note for Leica EM ICE - WT hippocampal neurons were plated at a density of 80,000 cells/cm2 on 6 mm sapphire disks for 14 days. Sample were frozen using a high-pressure freezer (Leica EM…Read article
Super-Resolution Mapping of Neuronal Circuitry With an Index-Optimized Clearing Agent
Super-resolution imaging deep inside tissues has been challenging, as it is extremely sensitive to light scattering and spherical aberrations. Here, we report an optimized optical clearing agent for…Read article
Super-Resolution Microscopy of the Synaptic Active Zone
At the presynaptic active zone (AZ) a variety of specialized proteins are assembled to complex architectures, which set the basis for speed, precision and plasticity of synaptic transmission.…Read article
Workflows & Protocols: Connecting Microscopy and Molecular Biology in Neuroscience
The main topic during this course was how to apply laser microdissection in neuroscience. Leica specialists demonstrated why laser microdissection is a suitable techniques for brain investigation as…Read article
Switching Roles: The Functional Plasticity of Adult Tissue Stem Cells
Adult organisms have to adapt to survive, and the same is true for their tissues. Rates and types of cell production must be rapidly and reversibly adjusted to meet tissue demands in response to both…Read article
Super-resolution Imaging of the Natural Killer Cell Immunological Synapse on a Glass-supported Planar Lipid Bilayer
The glass-supported planar lipid bilayer system has been utilized in a variety of disciplines. One of the most useful applications of this technique has been in the study of immunological synapse…Read article