LEC 1

• the Golgi staining technique is also known as reduced silver stain
• reticular theory focused on random individual cells in detail
• the principle of the neuron doctrine is each neuron is a discrete cell
• the principle of dynamic polarization in neurons is that they transmit information in a particular direction
• connections between neurons are organized and not random
• the development of the electron microscope confirmed canals theory of separate neurons
• electron microscopes examine cells ultrastructure
• the electron microscope confirmed the existence of synapses
• cells have to be dead is being used for the electron microscope
• immunofluorescence labelling is used to prepare selective antibodies for a drug tagged with a fluorescent label and add them to target specific proteins
• confocal microscopy can be used on living cells
• rainbow gene modification can be used to genetically modify an animal to produce fluorescent dyes
• there are around 10 different colours that can be made by genetically modified animals
• the glial cells come from the neural tube and neural crest
• glial cells support the neurons
• glial cells can divide
• Ependymal cells, oligodendrocytes, satellite cells, astrocytes, microglia, Schwann cells are all glial cells
• in the thalamus glial cells outnumber neurons
• the most abundant glial cell in the brain is astrocytes
• astrocytes main function is to fill the pace between neurons and to regulate extracellular fluid compositions
• in neural stem cells, astrocytes direct the proliferation and differentiation
• oligodendrocytes myelinate axons of neurons in the CNS
• oligodendrocytes are found in the CNS and have many axons
• Schwann cells myelinate axons in the PNS
• Schwann cells are found in the PNS and have a single axon
• microglia act as brain scavengers and remove dead cells
• microglia and ependymal cells migrate
• ependymal cells line ventricles and direct cell migration during brain development
• ependymal cells produce CSF
• HD is an autosomal dominant disorder caused by genetic abnormality in the Huntingtin gene
• HD is caused by the huntingtin gene coding a repeated sequence of glutamine residues, with greater than 40 leading to certainty of developing HD.
• symptoms of HD are jerky movements due to effect on the basal ganglia
• the huntingtin gene is not broken down correctly leading to accumulation in neurons as inclusion bodies, eventually causing cell death
• other cells effected by HD are Astrocytes and microglia, leading to neuroinflammation
• Amyloid plaques and tau protein are the two main proteins involved in AD
• when the tau protein becomes heavily phosphorylated in AD it clumps to form neurofibrillary tangles inside the neuron, disrupting normal movement of cargo and can cause neuron death
• astrocytes and glial cell in AD become active and induce neuroinflammation