Radioimmunoassay of met-enkephalin in microdissected areas of paraformaldehyde-fixed rat brain
The effect was studied of various sample preparation procedures on rat brain met-enkephalin content, measured by radioimmunoassay. Whole brain met-enkephalin content of rats killed by decapitation followed by immediate tissue freezing was similar to that of rats killed by microwave irradiation and to those of rats anesthetized with pentobarbital or halothane before killing, whether previously perfused with paraformaldehyde or not. In contrast, a decrease (up to 80%) in met-enkephalin concentrations was observed when brain samples were frozen and thawed to mimic the procedure utilized in the ''punch'' technique for analysis of discrete brain nuclei. This decrease was totally prevented by paraformaldehyde perfusion of the brain prior to sacrific. Brain perfusion did not alter the amount of immunoassayable met-enkephalin extracted from tissue or its profile after Sephadex chromatography. Paraformaldehyde perfusion results in b
- Research Organization:
- National Inst. of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD
- OSTI ID:
- 6053477
- Journal Information:
- Life Sci.; (United States), Vol. 34:9
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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