Synapse formation but especially the synaptic maintenance (synaptogenesis) is critical for neuronal health and disease. Defective synaptogenesis contributes to the pathology of different neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, or Niemann Pick disease. A therapeutic strategy that fosters synaptogenesis may be a beneficial target for many neurodegenerative diseases. For this purpose, QPS Neuropharmacology provides a cell culture model to assess effects of your developmental compound on synaptogenesis in primary hippocampal or cortical neurons.

Synaptogenesis Solution

Primary mouse/rat hippocampal or cortical neurons are treated with compounds for up to 10 days. Cells are subjected to indirect immunofluorescence analysis using β-tubulin III and synapsin antibody and imaged in Cytation5 multimode reader (Biotek) with imaging module at 10x magnification of 4-6 images per well. Synapsin-positive objects and β-tubulin III immunoreactive area are determined using automated image-based analysis (Gen05 software, BioTek).

 
Figure: Effects of fibroblast growth factor (FGF) on synaptogenesis of primary mouse cortical neurons. Mean + SEM (n=4-8 / group). Unpaired t-test **p<0.01. Representative images of DAPI (blue), synapsin (orange) and β-tubulin III (red) positive cells. Scale bar: 200 µM.