Spare respiratory capacity and the bioenergetics of the nerve terminal.
Guest Speaker:
David Nicholls, PhD, FRSE
Professor, Buck Institute for Age Research
Novato, California, US
and Lund University
Lund, Sweden
Log In to View on-DemandWebinar Abstract:
Pre-synaptic nerve terminals (synaptosomes) require ATP for neurotransmitter exocytosis and recovery and for ionic homeostasis, and are consequently abundantly furnished with mitochondria. Pre-synaptic mitochondrial dysfunction is implicated in a variety of neurodegenerative disorders.
While studies of in situ mitochondrial function have been performed with synaptosomes, the amount of material required for monitoring respiration has severely restricted the application of this technique for studies of discrete brain regions of transgenic mice.
We have successfully used the Seahorse XF24 extracellular flux analyzer to monitor synaptosomal respiration together with extracellular pH as an indication of anaerobic glycolysis. The 50-fold decrease in the amount of material required compared with conventional respirometry, together with the ability to assay multiple samples in parallel facilitates the study of synaptosomes from specific murine brain regions.
Join us for this 45-minute webinar to learn how to use the XF Analyzer with microgram quantities of synaptosomes protein.
You Will Learn:
- How to quantify the basic mitochondrial respiratory parameters of in situ mitochondria within mouse cerebrocortical synaptosomes.
- How to establish the conditions for optimal substrate supply.
- How to determine the bioenergetic demand of ion cycling and action-potential firing at the plasma membrane.