title: Laser-assisted microdissection.
abstract: When analyzing alcohol's effects on the brain, researchers often want to look at small clusters of cells that can be studied in isolation from the surrounding brain tissue rather than at the entire brain or larger brain areas. This implies that relatively small numbers of cells have to be retrieved from the brain and studied in culture or subjected to biochemical analyses. The challenge then becomes how to isolate small numbers of cells from a specific brain region without including unwanted cells. One approach to solving this problem is to use a technology known as laser-assisted microdissection (LMD). This article reviews some of the principles of LMD and its use in alcohol research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, and in the Research Service, Portland VA Medical Center, both in Portland, Oregon.
authors.forename: Denesa
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Oberbeck
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology / Q000473:pathology*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D061346:Laser Capture Microdissection / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics