title: Injury Response of Resected Human Brain Tissue In Vitro.
abstract: Brain injury affects a significant number of people each year. Organotypic cultures from resected normal neocortical tissue provide unique opportunities to study the cellular and neuropathological consequences of severe injury of adult human brain tissue in vitro. The in vitro injuries caused by resection (interruption of the circulation) and aggravated by the preparation of slices (severed neuronal and glial processes and blood vessels) reflect the reaction of human brain tissue to severe injury. We investigated this process using immunocytochemical markers, reverse transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis. Essential features were rapid shrinkage of neurons, loss of neuronal marker expression and proliferation of reactive cells that expressed Nestin and Vimentin. Also, microglia generally responded strongly, whereas the response of glial fibrillary acidic protein-positive astrocytes appeared to be more variable. Importantly, some reactive cells also expressed both microglia and astrocytic markers, thus confounding their origin. Comparison with post-mortem human brain tissue obtained at rapid autopsies suggested that the reactive process is not a consequence of epilepsy.
authors.affiliation: Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ronald W H
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Verwer
authors.affiliation: Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Arja A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Sluiter
authors.affiliation: Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Rawien A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Balesar
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Johannes C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Baaijen
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Philip C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: de Witt Hamer
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biochemistry, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Dave
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Speijer
authors.affiliation: Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Yichen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Dick F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Swaab
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004833:Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D019394:Ki-67 Antigen; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger
keywords: brain injury; epilepsy; human neocortex; neuronal degeneration; reactive glial cells; tissue culture