Faculty Bibliography

Amyloid-containing tissue, whether from human patients or an animal model of a disease, is typically characterized by various biochemical and immunohistochemical techniques, many of which are described in detail in this volume. In this chapter, we describe a straightforward technique for the homogenization of tissue prior to these analyses. The technique is particularly well-suited for performing a large number of different biochemical analyses on a single mouse brain hemisphere. Starting with this homogenate, multiple characterizations can be done, including Western blot analysis and isolation of membrane-associated proteins, both of which are described here. Additional analyses can readily be performed on the tissue homogenate, including the ELISA quantitation of Abeta in the brain of a transgenic mouse model of beta-amyloid deposition. The ELISA technique is described in detail in the following chapter

The neuritic plaque in the brain of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients consists of an amyloid composed primarily of Abeta, an approx 4-kDa peptide derived from the amyloid precursor protein. Multiple lines of evidence suggest that Abeta plays a key role in the pathogenesis of the disease, and potential treatments that target Abeta production and/or Abeta accumulation in the brain as beta-amyloid are being aggressively pursued. Methods to quantitate the Abeta peptide are, therefore, invaluable to most studies aimed at a better understanding of the molecular etiology of the disease and in assessing potential therapeutics. Although other techniques have been used to measure Abeta in the brains of AD patients and beta-amyloid-depositing transgenic mice, the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is one of the most commonly used, reliable, and sensitive methods for quantitating the Abeta peptide. Here we describe methods for the recovery of both soluble and deposited Abeta from brain tissue and the subsequent quantitation of the peptide by sandwich ELISA

The use of murine cerebrovascular cells, that is, endothelial and smooth muscle cells, has not been widely employed as a cell culture model for the investigation of cellular mechanisms involved in cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA). Difficulties in isolation and propagation of murine cerebrovascular cells and insufficient yields for molecular and cell culture studies have deterred investigators from using mice as a source for cerebrovascular cells in culture. To date, most of the literature has described isolation of smooth muscle cells or endothelial cells from human, canine, rat, guinea pig, or other large animals. In recent years, several transgenic mice have been established that show CAA pathology; therefore, it is necessary to re-examine the use of mouse cerebrovascular cells as an important model for cell culture studies. We have optimized the isolation procedure of (1) murine microvessels, (2) smooth muscle cells, and (3) endothelial cells to yield a sufficient population of cells for experimentation purposes. Comparisons with rat and human isolation procedures are also noted. Murine smooth muscle cells isolated using the methodology described herein exhibit the classic 'hill and valley' morphology and are immunoreactive for smooth muscle cell-specific alpha-actin, whereas endothelial cells demonstrate a more 'cobblestone' appearance and stain for von Willebrand factor or factor VIII-related antigen