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Organotypic Slices and Biolistic Transfection for the Study of Serotonin Receptor Function in CNS Neurons

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Serotonin Receptor Technologies

Part of the book series: Neuromethods ((NM,volume 95))

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Abstract

Brain slices offer a powerful avenue for the study of signaling mechanisms in the central nervous system (CNS). They combine many of the experimental advantages of isolated in vitro experimental preparations with preservation of key aspects of the neuronal anatomy and physiology seen in whole animals. Acutely prepared slices have proven very useful for the study of serotonin (5-HT) signaling in the CNS, and neuronal signaling in general. The usefulness of this preparation has been expanded by the ability to place brain slices in organotypic culture and transfect them using plasmid DNA. In this chapter, we describe how we have implemented the preparation of organotypic slices in our laboratories as well as transfection of the slices using biolistic (gene gun) approaches. We finish with a discussion of some of the experimental strategies that are possible with these techniques and their limitations.

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Acknowledgements

Work in the author’s laboratory is supported by NIH grants MH43985 and MH100850.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, 1308 Scott Hall, 540 E. Canfield St., Detroit, MI, 48201, USA

    Kelly McGregor & Rodrigo Andrade

  2. Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Jean-Claude Beïque

Authors
  1. Kelly McGregor
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  2. Jean-Claude Beïque
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  3. Rodrigo Andrade
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rodrigo Andrade .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Universität zu Köln, Köln, Germany

    Wolfgang Blenau

  2. Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany

    Arnd Baumann

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McGregor, K., Beïque, JC., Andrade, R. (2015). Organotypic Slices and Biolistic Transfection for the Study of Serotonin Receptor Function in CNS Neurons. In: Blenau, W., Baumann, A. (eds) Serotonin Receptor Technologies. Neuromethods, vol 95. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2187-4_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2187-4_3

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-2186-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-2187-4

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