Immunohistoblot analysis on whole human hemispheres from normal and Alzheimer diseased brains

Neurochem Int. 2008 Dec;53(6-8):181-3. doi: 10.1016/j.neuint.2008.09.002. Epub 2008 Sep 11.

Abstract

We demonstrate the feasibility and usefulness of the histoblot immunostaining of cryosections of whole hemispheres of healthy and Alzheimer diseased (AD) human brains by localizing a neuron-specific marker, the anti-neuronal nuclei (NeuN) antigen. As expected, cortical NeuN-immunopositive regions were generally thinner and lighter in the AD brains than in the controls. The advantages of using whole hemisphere histoblots: (1) they provide a low-resolution overview/outline of the antigen distribution in a large surface area, (2) large, thick, and/or unfixed tissue sections from post-mortem samples (perhaps of inferior tissue quality) can be compared, and (3) subsequent immunohistochemistry can be performed on the tissue sections used for the histoblots.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Alzheimer Disease / metabolism*
  • Alzheimer Disease / pathology
  • Antigens, Nuclear / analysis
  • Biomarkers / analysis
  • Cerebral Cortex / chemistry*
  • Cerebral Cortex / metabolism
  • Cerebral Cortex / pathology
  • Collodion
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
  • Immunoblotting / methods*
  • Immunohistochemistry / methods*
  • Male
  • Membranes, Artificial
  • Microtomy
  • Middle Aged
  • Nerve Degeneration / metabolism
  • Nerve Degeneration / pathology
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins / analysis
  • Neurons / metabolism
  • Neurons / pathology
  • Staining and Labeling / methods*

Substances

  • Antigens, Nuclear
  • Biomarkers
  • Membranes, Artificial
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins
  • neuronal nuclear antigen NeuN, human
  • Collodion