Astrocytes, 2012 Methods and Protocols Methods in Molecular Biology Series, Vol. 814

Astrocytes:  Multi-talented Stars of the Central Nervous System.-Neurogenic Astrocytes and their Glycoconjugates: not just “Glue” Anymore.- Heterogeneity of Astrocytic Form and Function.-Preparation of Mixed Glial Cultures from Postnatal Rat Brain.-Generation of Primary Astrocyte Cultures Devoid of Contaminating Microglia.-Derivation of Microglia-free Astrocyte Cultures from Neural Stem Cells.-Isolation and Culture of Spinal Cord Astrocytes.-Isolation and Culture of Astrocytes from the Retina and Optic Nerve.-Primary Cultures of Astrocytes from Fetal Bovine Brain.-Isolation and Cultivation of Porcine Astrocyte.- Isolation and Culture of Human Astrocytes.-Cell Culturing of C. elegans Glial Cells for the Assessment of Cytosolic Ca²⁺ Dynamics.-Astrocyte Polarization and Wound Healing in Culture:Studying Cell Adhesion Molecules.-An in Vitro Trauma Model to Study Rodent and Human Astrocyte Reactivity.-Use of Gel Zymography to Examine Matrix Metalloproteinase (gelatinase) Expression in Brain Tissue or in Primary Glial Cultures.-ELISA Methodology to Quantify Astrocyte Production of Cytokines/Chemokines In Vitro.-Induction of Nitric Oxide Synthase-2 Expression and Measurement of Nitric Oxide Production in Enriched Primary Cortical Astrocyte Cultures.-Examining  Potassium Channel Function in Astrocytes.-Connexin Based Channels in Astrocytes: How to Study their Properties.-Isotope-based Quantitation of Uptake, Release and Metabolism of Glutamate and Glucose in Cultured Astrocytes.-An in Vitro Model of Reactive Astrogliosis and its Effect on Neuronal Growth.-A Neuron-Astrocyte Co-Culture System to Investigate Astrocyte Secreted Factors in Mouse Neuronal Development.-Co-cultures of Neurons and Astrocytes as a Model for Examining Hypoxia-induced Neuronal Death.-Use of Astrocyte-Microglial Co-cultures to Examine the Regulatory Influence of Astrocytes on Microglial Activation.-Astrocyte-Schwann Cell Co-Culture Systems.-An in Vitro Assay to ExamineOligodendrocyte Precursor Cell Migration on Astrocytes.-Investigation of Astrocyte-Oligodendrocyte Interactions in Human Cultures.-An Improved in vitro Blood-Brain Barrier Model: Rat Brain Endothelial Cells Co-Cultured with Astrocytes.-In Vitro Models of the Blood-Brain Barrier.-An in Vitro Model of Ischemic Stroke.-Pericyte Co-Culture Models to Study Astrocyte, Pericyte, and Endothelial Cell Interactions.-Reprogramming of Postnatal Astroglia of the Mouse Neocortex into Functional Synapse-Forming Neurons.-Assessment of Glial Function in the in Vivo Retina.-Imaging in Vivo Astrocyte/Endothelial Cell Interactions at the Blood-Brain Barrier.-Transgenic Techniques for Cell Ablation or Molecular Deletion to Investigate Functions of Astrocytes and Other GFAP-Expressing Cell Types.-Use of Cre-Lox technology to analyze integrin functions in astrocytes.-In Vivo Imaging of Ca²⁺ Signaling in Astrocytes Using Two Photon Laser Scanning Fluorescent Microscopy.

 

Provides a selection of the key cellular,molecular, and biochemical techniques that are used in studying the many and varied functions of this fascinating cell Provides step-by-step detail essential for reproducible results Contains key notes and implementation advice from the experts