Neuroscience Core

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The Neuroscience Core was a part of our MRDDRC during the initial period of support from 1987-1992, and consisted of a synaptic neurochemistry unit directed by Dr. Joseph Coyle at Johns Hopkins Hospital and a lipid biochemistry unit directed by Dr. Yasuo Kishimoto at the Kennedy Institute. The synaptic neurochemistry core provided biochemical assays for neurotransmitter enzymes, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) assays for a variety of neurotransmitters including amino acids and receptor binding assays for neurotransmitter receptors in the brain. The lipid biochemistry unit provided HPLC, gas liquid chromatography (GLC) and GLC-mass spectrometer assays used to characterize inborn errors of metabolism including sphingolipidoses, peroxisomal disorders such as adrenoleukodystrophy and Refsum's disease and lysosomal disorders. Dr. Michael Johnston replaced Dr. Coyle as director of the Neuroscience Core and head of the synaptic neurochemistry unit during the next period of support from 1993-1998 after Dr. Coyle left Hopkins to become the chairman of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Johnston recruited Dr. Mary Blue as a coinvestigator of the sysnaptic neurochemistry core to develop a new neuroimaging unit for brain histology. During this period the synaptic neurochemistry unit continued to provide HPLC assays for neurotransmitters and expanded sophisticated imaging techniques for immunocytochemistry and analysis of neurotransmitter receptors and messenger RNA's in tissue sections using quantitative morphometric techniques. At the same time Dr. Paul Watkins replaced Dr. Kishimoto as director of the lipid neurochemistry core. This unit continued to develop advanced techniques for studying peroxisomal and related lipid disorders and added gas chromatography/mass spectrometry services for studying fatty and organic acid disorders under the direction of Dr. Richard Kelley. Leadership of the Neuroscience Core has remained stable for two additional periods of support from 1998-2008. The Core has continues to provide the most modern technology for neuroscience research including HPLC equipment, several systems for computerized morphometry and stereology, and most recently has added a confocal microscope system. Equipment in the lipid biochemistry core has also been updated to provide expanded research on peroxisomal and organic acid disorders.