Biomaterial Database

An automated colorimetric microassay for neuronotrophic factors. 1986

M Manthorpe, and R Fagnani, and S D Skaper, and S Varon

A microassay is described for determining the number of neurons surviving after 24 h in response to added neuronotrophic factors. Neuronal cultures in 96-well microtiter plates are supplied with a yellow tetrazolium derivative, MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide), which is taken up selectively by viable neurons and converted to a blue formazan product. The amount of blue color development can be rapidly quantified using an automatic microplate spectrophotometer. The resulting optical density is directly proportional to the number of viable neurons. The spectrophotometer has been interfaced with a computer allowing a print out of individual absorbance values and calculation of half-maximal (one trophic unit) neuronal survival. The assay has been used for the quantification of the trophic activities of nerve growth factor and ciliary neuronotrophic factor using, respectively, dorsal root and ciliary ganglionic neurons from 8-day chick embryos. Assay parameters were optimized so that about 2000 individual cultures of ganglionic neurons can be set up and analyzed each day, thus allowing the serial titration in duplicate of 80-120 separate samples. The determination of neuronal number and titer calculation steps now requires about 2 min per microplate (96 cultures), a 50-fold reduction in time over existing methods.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D009414	Nerve Growth Factors	Factors which enhance the growth potentialities of sensory and sympathetic nerve cells.	Neurite Outgrowth Factor,Neurite Outgrowth Factors,Neuronal Growth-Associated Protein,Neuronotrophic Factor,Neurotrophic Factor,Neurotrophic Factors,Neurotrophin,Neurotrophins,Growth-Associated Proteins, Neuronal,Neuronal Growth-Associated Proteins,Neuronotrophic Factors,Neurotrophic Protein,Neurotrophic Proteins,Proteins, Neuronal Growth-Associated,Factor, Neurite Outgrowth,Factor, Neuronotrophic,Factor, Neurotrophic,Factors, Nerve Growth,Factors, Neurite Outgrowth,Factors, Neuronotrophic,Factors, Neurotrophic,Growth Associated Proteins, Neuronal,Growth-Associated Protein, Neuronal,Neuronal Growth Associated Protein,Neuronal Growth Associated Proteins,Outgrowth Factor, Neurite,Outgrowth Factors, Neurite,Protein, Neuronal Growth-Associated
D009580	Nitroblue Tetrazolium	Colorless to yellow dye that is reducible to blue or black formazan crystals by certain cells; formerly used to distinguish between nonbacterial and bacterial diseases, the latter causing neutrophils to reduce the dye; used to confirm diagnosis of chronic granulomatous disease.	Nitro-BT,Nitrotetrazolium Blue,Tetrazolium Nitroblue,Blue, Nitrotetrazolium,Nitroblue, Tetrazolium,Tetrazolium, Nitroblue
D002452	Cell Count	The number of CELLS of a specific kind, usually measured per unit volume or area of sample.	Cell Density,Cell Number,Cell Counts,Cell Densities,Cell Numbers,Count, Cell,Counts, Cell,Densities, Cell,Density, Cell,Number, Cell,Numbers, Cell
D002478	Cells, Cultured	Cells propagated in vitro in special media conducive to their growth. Cultured cells are used to study developmental, morphologic, metabolic, physiologic, and genetic processes, among others.	Cultured Cells,Cell, Cultured,Cultured Cell
D002642	Chick Embryo	The developmental entity of a fertilized chicken egg (ZYGOTE). The developmental process begins about 24 h before the egg is laid at the BLASTODISC, a small whitish spot on the surface of the EGG YOLK. After 21 days of incubation, the embryo is fully developed before hatching.	Embryo, Chick,Chick Embryos,Embryos, Chick
D005727	Ganglia, Spinal	Sensory ganglia located on the dorsal spinal roots within the vertebral column. The spinal ganglion cells are pseudounipolar. The single primary branch bifurcates sending a peripheral process to carry sensory information from the periphery and a central branch which relays that information to the spinal cord or brain.	Dorsal Root Ganglia,Spinal Ganglia,Dorsal Root Ganglion,Ganglion, Spinal,Ganglia, Dorsal Root,Ganglion, Dorsal Root,Spinal Ganglion
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D001322	Autoanalysis	Method of analyzing chemicals using automation.	Autoanalyses
D013778	Tetrazolium Salts	Quaternary salts derived from tetrazoles. They are used in tests to distinguish between reducing sugars and simple aldehydes, for detection of dehydrogenase in tissues, cells, and bacteria, for determination of corticosteroids, and in color photography. (From Mall's Dictionary of Chemistry, 5th ed, p455)	Tetrazolium Salt,Salt, Tetrazolium,Salts, Tetrazolium