Equipment to investigate social brain development in adolescence in rats.

研究大鼠青春期社会性大脑发育的设备。

• 批准号: RTI-2019-00034
• 负责人: McCormick, Cheryl
• 金额: $ 7.66万
• 依托单位: Brock University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Research Tools and Instruments
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2018-01-01 至 2019-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=659196
• 关键词: Equipment; investigate; social; brain; development

It is well known that experiences in prenatal and neonatal life can profoundly influence how the brain develops. For about the last 15 years, the long-term objective of my research program is to understand the developmental plasticity of the adolescent period of life – more specifically, the extent to which life experiences in adolescence shape the ongoing development of the brain into adulthood. This research is conducted in rats, which allows me to manipulate their social environment in adolescence to then investigate how these experiences influenced brain and behavioural development relative to control groups of rats. The main manipulation involved is social instability stress, which involves pairing rats with a different cage partner daily for 16 days in mid-adolescence. To allow us to visualize specific proteins in the brain and to make specific morphological measurements of brain structures, we rely on analysis of thin sections of brain tissue, which are obtained with the use of a cryostat. The cryostat is used for brain sections for immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, autoradiography, and Golgi staining, and to localize the placement of cannula implanted in the brains. Our current cryostat (14 years old) is no longer operational, and we require a new one. To obtain images of, and to analyze, the brain sections, we have relied on our current microscope (Nikon Eclipse 80i) and its associated software and hardware. I am are seeking to upgrade the system (also 14 years old) to allow more efficient analysis of brain sections and to add the capability for new analyses of neuronal structure. Each year, 8-10 HQP are receiving training in my lab, and the equipment requested is foundational, as this equipment permits the training of other techniques that are only possible with the equipment requested.The growth in the number of HQP in my lab has placed great demands on the microscope, and students often find that it is difficult to schedule time to use it; the main upgrade to the microscope system involves automation, better image acquisition and upgraded software for image analysis. These features will enrich our research findings and make image acquisition and analysis more efficient, allowing for greater access to the equipment by HQP. The cryostat and microscope are essential for my research program and for the timely completion of HQP projects.***ITEMS REQUESTED: a Cryostat NX50, NIKON Eclipse 80i microscope system upgrades.

众所周知，产前和新生儿生活中的经历会深刻影响大脑的发育。在过去的15年里，我的研究计划的长期目标是了解青少年时期的发展可塑性-更具体地说，青春期的生活经历在多大程度上塑造了大脑到成年的持续发展。这项研究是在大鼠中进行的，这使我能够操纵他们在青春期的社会环境，然后研究这些经验如何影响大脑和相对于对照组大鼠的行为发育。涉及的主要操作是社会不稳定压力，这涉及在青春期中期每天将大鼠与不同的笼中伙伴配对16天。为了使我们能够可视化大脑中的特定蛋白质并对大脑结构进行特定的形态学测量，我们依赖于对脑组织薄切片的分析，这些切片是使用低温恒温器获得的。低温恒温器用于脑切片的免疫组织化学、原位杂交、放射自显影和高尔基染色，并定位植入脑中的套管的位置。我们目前的低温恒温器（14岁）不再运行，我们需要一个新的。为了获得大脑切片的图像并进行分析，我们依赖于我们目前的显微镜（Nikon Eclipse 80 i）及其相关的软件和硬件。我正在寻求升级系统（也是14岁），以允许更有效地分析大脑切片，并增加新的神经元结构分析能力。每年有8-10名HQP在我的实验室接受培训，所需的设备是基础性的，因为这些设备允许培训其他技术，而这些技术只有在所需的设备下才能实现。我实验室HQP数量的增长对显微镜提出了很大的要求，学生们经常发现很难安排时间使用它;显微镜系统的主要升级包括自动化、更好的图像采集和升级的图像分析软件。这些功能将丰富我们的研究成果，并使图像采集和分析更有效，允许HQP更多地访问设备。低温恒温器和显微镜对我的研究计划和按时完成HQP项目至关重要。*所需物品：Cryostat NX 50，NIKON Eclipse 80 i显微镜系统升级。