Abstract
Neuron-glia interaction is involved in physiological function of neurons, however, recent evidences have suggested glial cells as participants in neurotoxic and neurotrophic mechanisms of neurodegenerative/neuroregenerative processes. Laser microdissection offers a unique opportunity to study molecular regulation in specific immunolabeled cell types. However, an adequate protocol to allow morphological and molecular analysis of rodent spinal cord astrocyte, microglia and motoneurons remains a big challenge. In this paper we present a quick method to immunolabel those cells in flash frozen sections to be used in molecular biology analyses after laser microdissection and pressure catapulting.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Amantea D, Nappi G, Bernardi G, Bagetta G, Corasaniti MT (2009) Post-ischemic brain damage: pathophysiology and role of inflammatory mediators. Febs J 276:13–26
Ando Y, Liang Y, Ishigaki S, Niwa J, Jiang Y, Kobayashi Y, Yamamoto M, Doyu M, Sobue G (2003) Caspase-1 and -3 mRNAs are differentially upregulated in motor neurons and glial cells in mutant SOD1 transgenic mouse spinal cord: a study using laser microdissection and real-time RT-PCR. Neurochem Res 28:839–846
Boillee S, Yamanaka K, Lobsiger CS, Copeland NG, Jenkins NA, Kassiotis G, Kollias G, Cleveland DW (2006) Onset and progression in inherited ALS determined by motor neurons and microglia. Science 312:1389–1392
Bradford MM (1976) A rapid and sensitive method for the quantitation of microgram quantities of protein utilizing the principle of protein–dye binding. Anal Biochem 72:248–254
Burbach GJ, Dehn D, Nagel B, Del Turco D, Deller T (2004) Laser microdissection of immunolabeled astrocytes allows quantification of astrocytic gene expression. J Neurosci Methods 138:141–148
Byne W, Dracheva S, Chin B, Schmeidler JM, Davis KL, Haroutunian V (2008) Schizophrenia and sex associated differences in the expression of neuronal and oligodendrocyte-specific genes in individual thalamic nuclei. Schizophr Res 98:118–128
Chadi G, Moller A, Rosen L, Janson AM, Agnati LA, Goldstein M, Ogren SO, Pettersson RF, Fuxe K (1993) Protective actions of human recombinant basic fibroblast growth factor on MPTP-lesioned nigrostriatal dopamine neurons after intraventricular infusion. Exp Brain Res 97:145–158
Curran S, Murray GI (2005) An introduction to laser-based tissue microdissection techniques. Methods Mol Biol 293:3–8
Dehn D, Burbach GJ, Schafer R, Deller T (2006) NG2 upregulation in the denervated rat fascia dentata following unilateral entorhinal cortex lesion. Glia 53:491–500
do Carmo Cunha J, de Freitas Azevedo Levy B, de Luca BA, de Andrade MS, Gomide VC, Chadi G (2007) Responses of reactive astrocytes containing S100beta protein and fibroblast growth factor-2 in the border and in the adjacent preserved tissue after a contusion injury of the spinal cord in rats: implications for wound repair and neuroregeneration. Wound Repair Regen 15:134–146
Fend F, Emmert-Buck MR, Chuaqui R, Cole K, Lee J, Liotta LA, Raffeld M (1999) Immuno-LCM: laser capture microdissection of immunostained frozen sections for mRNA analysis. Am J Pathol 154:61–66
Ferraiuolo L, Heath PR, Holden H, Kasher P, Kirby J, Shaw PJ (2007) Microarray analysis of the cellular pathways involved in the adaptation to and progression of motor neuron injury in the SOD1 G93A mouse model of familial ALS. J Neurosci 27:9201–9219
Fink L, Kinfe T, Seeger W, Ermert L, Kummer W, Bohle RM (2000) Immunostaining for cell picking and real-time mRNA quantitation. Am J Pathol 157:1459–1466
Goldsworthy SM, Stockton PS, Trempus CS, Foley JF, Maronpot RR (1999) Effects of fixation on RNA extraction and amplification from laser capture microdissected tissue. Mol Carcinog 25:86–91
Julien JP (2007) ALS: astrocytes move in as deadly neighbors. Nat Neurosci 10:535–537
Li MX, Xiao ZQ, Liu YF, Chen YH, Li C, Zhang PF, Li MY, Li F, Peng F, Duan CJ, Yi H, Yao HX, Chen ZC (2009) Quantitative proteomic analysis of differential proteins in the stroma of nasopharyngeal carcinoma and normal nasopharyngeal epithelial tissue. J Cell Biochem 106:570–579
Martin LJ, Liu Z, Chen K, Price AC, Pan Y, Swaby JA, Golden WC (2007) Motor neuron degeneration in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis mutant superoxide dismutase-1 transgenic mice: mechanisms of mitochondriopathy and cell death. J Comp Neurol 500:20–46
Micke P, Ostman A, Lundeberg J, Ponten F (2005) Laser-assisted cell microdissection using the PALM system. Methods Mol Biol 293:151–166
Porombka D, Baumgartner W, Herden C (2008) A rapid method for gene expression analysis of Borna disease virus in neurons and astrocytes using laser microdissection and real-time RT-PCR. J Virol Methods 148:58–65
Saito A, Sato T, Okano H, Toyoda K, Bamba H, Kimura S, Bellier JP, Matsuo A, Kimura H, Hisa Y, Tooyama I (2009) Axotomy alters alternative splicing of choline acetyltransferase in the rat dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus nerve. J Comp Neurol 513:237–248
Salmina AB (2009) Neuron-glia interactions as therapeutic targets in neurodegeneration. J Alzheimers Dis 16:485–502
Sawada M (2009) Neuroprotective and toxic changes in microglia in neurodegenerative disease. Parkinsonism Relat Disord 15(Suppl. 1):S39–S41
Wang H, Owens JD, Shih JH, Li MC, Bonner RF, Mushinski JF (2006) Histological staining methods preparatory to laser capture microdissection significantly affect the integrity of the cellular RNA. BMC Genomics 7:97
Ye P, Bagnell R, D’Ercole AJ (2003) Mouse NG2+ oligodendrocyte precursors express mRNA for proteolipid protein but not its DM-20 variant: a study of laser microdissection-captured NG2+ cells. J Neurosci 23:4401–4405
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by individual grants from FAPESP (95/9060-6; 98/13122-5; 99/01319-1; 07/00491-3) and CNPq, Brazil. We thank Professor Fernando Carlos de Oliveira for proof reading the manuscript. We also thank FAPESP for an Institutional grant that make it possible the acquisition of the Palm® Microbeam System (process 2004/08926-0).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
de Oliveira, G.P., Maximino, J.R., Lin, C.J. et al. A method to immunolabel rodent spinal cord neurons and glia for molecular study in specific laser microdissected cells involved in neurodegenerative disorders. J Mol Hist 40, 217–225 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10735-009-9233-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10735-009-9233-2