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Degenerating Processes Identified by Electron Microscopic Immunocytochemical Methods

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Book cover Neurodegeneration

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 793))

Abstract

The application of electron microscopic immunolabeling techniques to the identification and analysis of degenerating processes in neural tissue has greatly enhanced the ability of researchers to examine apoptosis and other degenerative disease mechanisms. This is particularly true for the early stages of such mechanisms. Traditionally, degenerating processes could only be identified at the ultrastructural level after significant cellular atrophy had occurred, when subcellular detail was obscured and synaptic relationships altered. Using immunocytochemical labeling procedures, degenerating neural and glial processes are first identified through the use of antibodies directed against a variety of degenerative markers, such as proapoptotic effectors (i.e., cytoplasmic cytochrome c), pathological components (i.e., beta amyloid deposits), or inflammatory agents (i.e., Iba1). Both the subcellular distribution of the marker within the process and the relationship of the labeled process to surrounding elements can then be carefully characterized. The information obtained can be further refined through the use of dual immunolabeling, which can provide additional data on the phenotype of the degenerating process and inputs to the process.

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Acknowledgments

GRANT SUPPORT: NIH grants DA08259 (TAM), HL096571 (TAM; JPP), and DK07313 (EMW).

We thank Ms. June Chan and Mr. Eric Colago for technical advice and Ms. Louisa Thompson for help in preparing the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Neurobiology, Department of Neurology and Neuroscience, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA

    Teresa A. Milner, Elizabeth M. Waters & Joseph P. Pierce

  2. Harold and Margaret Milliken Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA

    Danielle C. Robinson

Authors
  1. Teresa A. Milner
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  2. Elizabeth M. Waters
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  3. Danielle C. Robinson
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  4. Joseph P. Pierce
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Teresa A. Milner .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Weill Medical College, Dept. Neurology & Neuroscience, Cornell University, East 68th St. 525, New York, 10065, New York, USA

    Giovanni Manfredi

  2. York Avenue 1300, New York, 10065, New York, USA

    Hibiki Kawamata

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Milner, T.A., Waters, E.M., Robinson, D.C., Pierce, J.P. (2011). Degenerating Processes Identified by Electron Microscopic Immunocytochemical Methods. In: Manfredi, G., Kawamata, H. (eds) Neurodegeneration. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 793. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-328-8_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-328-8_3

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ

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  • Online ISBN: 978-1-61779-328-8

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