Lecture 5- Neurocytology 1 Flashcards
What are Nissl bodies?
Rough ER
What are the cells called that line the ventricles?
ependymal cells
What is a set back of the Nissal staining technique?
Doesn’t show axon/dendrites and cell connections very well
Which staining technique is useful for cell counting?
Nissl stain
What parts of the cell does the Nissl cell stain?
Cell body and proximal dendrites
-especially the nucelolus and nucleus
Which staining technique would be most useful in determining the course of bundles of axons?
myelin stain
Which staining technique reveals fibrillar components of the neuron?
silver stain
What is advantageous about the Golgi stain?
shows only about 3-5% of the cells but those that are stained should the axons and dendrites
What is a limit of electron microscopy?
thinness of the section (brain tissue is hard to cut)
Does an active cell appear lighter or darker on a Golgi stain?
lighter-DNA uncoiled-active transcription
How do LESS active cells appear in a Golgi stain?
darker
What is the name of the MAP (microtubule associated protein) that has been found to be modified in Alzheimer’s disease neurons?
Tau
What causes neurofibrallary tangles seen as a hallmark of Alzheimer’s Disease?
hyperphosphorylation of the tau (MAP) protein
Can axons be visualized on a nissl stain?
no, just cell bodies and proximal dendrites
What parts of the neuron contain rough ER and free ribosomes?
Cell Body and proximal dendrites (NOT AXONS)- think of what stains in Nissl
What cells myelin ate neurons of the CNS?
oligodendrocytes
What are the four characteristics of an asymmetric synapse?
Wide clefts
Excitatory
Asymetric density of the pre/post synaptic membranes
Round vesicles
What are the four characteristics of the symmetric synapse?
Pleomorphic vesicles
Inhibitory
Narrow cleft
Symmetric density of the pre and post synaptic membrane
What is anterograde transport?
from the cell body to other parts of the cell
What motor proteins mediate anterograde transport?
kinesin
What motor protein mediates retrograde (towards the cell body) transport?
dynein
What virus takes advantage of retrograde transport to invade the neuron?
rabies
What is the most numerous classification of neuron in the body?
multipolar neuron
Where are unipolar neurons found?
senory ganglia (dorsal root ganglion, sensory ganglia)
Intracellular filling stains all parts of the neuron, what is the downside to this process?
you can only fill one neuron at a time
