Main description:

This volume provides comprehensive procedures for analyzing the extracellular matrix in native, injured, and engineered neural tissues. Divided into four parts, each focusing on different aspects of the extracellular matrix and the nervous system, Extracellular Matrix covers methods to analyze native tissue, in vitro models for investigating cell-extracellular matrix interactions in a variety of contexts, protocols to investigate the role of the extracellular matrix in nervous system injury, degeneration, and regeneration, as well as therapeutics and engineered systems. Each chapter is written by leading experts and presents established protocols in a concise format, encompassing current technologies as well as methods developed over years of research. Beginning with an introduction to the method, chapters continue with a listing of the materials and equipment, step-by-step protocols, and a Notes section with troubleshooting tips, supplemental details and alternative approaches, as well as a list of references for further information.

As part of the practical and convenient Neuromethods series, Extracellular Matrix serves as an invaluable aid for researchers studying this vital area of neuroscience.

Contents:

Part I: Native Tissue

1. Immunohistochemical Characterization of Brain Neural and Vascular Basement Membranes

Zhen Huang

2. The Use of Synaptic Basal Lamina and Its Components to Identify Sites of Recent Morphological Alterations at Mammalian Neuromuscular Junctions

Young il Lee and Yue Li

3. Perineuronal Nets: A Special Structure in the Central Nervous System Extracellular Matrix

Jessica C.F. Kwok, Simona Foscarin, and James W. Fawcett

Part II: In Vitro Models

4. Isolation of Perinatal Mouse Cerebral Cortical Astrocytes

Rolicia F. Martin and Elizabeth M. Powell

5. Techniques for Examining the Effect of Substratum Bound Proteoglycans on Neurite Outgrowth In Vitro

Justin A. Beller, Thomas M. Hering, and Diane M. Snow

6. High-Throughput Quantitative Assay for Analyzing Neurite Outgrowth on a Uniform Substratum: The Cell-Substratum Assay

Justin A. Beller, Thomas M. Hering, and Diane M. Snow

7. Extracellular Matrix Components as a Substrate for Outgrowing Motoneurons

Rebecca Conrad, Alice Klausmeyer, Teresa Tsai, Andreas Faissner, and Stefan Wiese

8. Replicating the In Vivo Environment: Organotypic and Submerged Three-Dimensional Culture Methods

Celine Plachez and Elizabeth M. Powell

9. Culturing Neurons, Glia, and Progenitor Cells in Three-Dimensional Hydrogels

Swarnalatha Balasubramanian, Elizabeth M. Powell, and Jennie B. Leach

10. Investigating Cell-ECM Interactions and ECM Synthesis in Three-Dimensional Hydrogels

Swarnalatha Balasubramanian, Elizabeth M. Powell, and Jennie B. Leach

Part III: Injury, Degeneration, and Regeneration

11. Characterization and Analysis of Extracellular Matrix in Malignant Brain Tumors and Their Cellular Derivatives

Maksim Sinyuk, Justin D. Lathia, and Mariano S. Viapiano

12. Chondroitinase Gene Therapy for Spinal Cord Injury

Jianli Hu, Gabrielle M. Curinga, and George M. Smith

13. Modulation of Neural Stem Cell Expressed Extracellular Matrix (ECM) by Targeting Glycosyltransferases

Eva Hennen and Andreas Faissner

Part IV: Therapeutics and Engineered Systems

14. Evaluating the Spatial and Temporal Protein Production in Neural Tissue Engineering Constructs In Vitro

Caroline P. Addington, Christine Pauken, and Sarah E. Stabenfeldt

15. Cultivation and Imaging of Astrocytes on Protein-Coated Fluorescent Topographies Constructed from Aligned PLLA Electrospun Fibers

Jonathan M. Zuidema, Maria C. Hyzinski-Garcia, Alexander A. Mongin, and Ryan J. Gilbert

16. Engineered Microdevices to Study and Manipulate Neural Stem Cell Chemotaxis

Hui Xu and Sarah C. Heilshorn

17. Hydrolytically Degradable Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) Hydrogel: Synthesis, Gel Formation, and Characterization

Silviya Petrova Zustiak.