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Flow Cytometric Evaluation of Crude Synaptosome Preparation as a Way to Study Synaptic Alteration in Neurodegenerative Diseases

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Synaptosomes

Part of the book series: Neuromethods ((NM,volume 141))

Abstract

Neurodegenerative diseases, the most common among them Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Lewy body disease (LBD), are a group of progressive incurable illnesses. In both AD and LBD, abundant evidence points to the synapse as the critical and early focus of pathological changes. Here we present a method for the isolation and flow cytometric analysis of synaptosomes prepared from postmortem human brain tissue, which we also applied to animal models, including mice and nonhuman primates. The use of flow cytometry for analysis allows for relatively fast and efficient examination of thousands of synaptosome particles in a matter of minutes, and also makes it possible to use crude, rather than purified, synaptosomal preparation, thus conserving tissue resources. We have applied this method to study synaptic alteration in several brain regions in human research participants and animal models.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Emily Sherfield, Julie Paladin, Samantha Rice, Leanne Hellstern, Erica Melief, and Allison Beller. Parts of the work presented in this chapter were supported by grants from the NIH: University of Washington Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) P50 AG05136, Stanford ADRC P50 AG047366, and the Pacific Udall Center P50 NS062684.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Nadia O. Postupna, Caitlin S. Latimer, C. Dirk Keene & Martin Darvas

  2. Department of Pathology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Kathleen S. Montine & Thomas J. Montine

Authors
  1. Nadia O. Postupna
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  2. Caitlin S. Latimer
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  3. C. Dirk Keene
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  4. Kathleen S. Montine
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  5. Thomas J. Montine
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  6. Martin Darvas
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Martin Darvas .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behavior, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Kathryn M. Murphy

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Postupna, N.O., Latimer, C.S., Dirk Keene, C., Montine, K.S., Montine, T.J., Darvas, M. (2018). Flow Cytometric Evaluation of Crude Synaptosome Preparation as a Way to Study Synaptic Alteration in Neurodegenerative Diseases. In: Murphy, K. (eds) Synaptosomes. Neuromethods, vol 141. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-8739-9_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-8739-9_17

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-8738-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-8739-9

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