Experimental approaches for observing homologous desensitisation and their pitfalls.
Whereas molecular mechanisms of cell desensitisation have been discussed at length in the literature, little organised information on the methods for studying desensitisation of cellular responses has been published. In this article, three commonly utilised protocols for studying homologous desensitisation of cellular responses are evaluated. These are (1) observation of attenuation of a response after an initial stimulus-induced activation, (2) repeated stimulation of cells after washing away the previous stimulus, and (3) repeated stimulation without a wash step. Advantages and limitations of each protocol are discussed and data is presented demonstrating some of the properties of the protocols.
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University of Michigan Medical Center, Division of Hematology and Oncology, Ann Arbor, USA.
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D000818:Animals; D002468:Cell Physiological Phenomena; D002469:Cell Separation; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*