Brain Energy Metabolism

Brain Energy Metabolism addresses its challenging subject by presenting diverse technologies allowing for the investigation of brain energy metabolism on different levels of complexity. Model systems are discussed, starting from the reductionist approach like primary cell cultures which allow assessing of the properties and functions of a single brain cell type with many different types of analysis, however, at the expense of neglecting the interaction between cell types in the brain. On the other end, analysis in animals and humans in vivo is discussed, maintaining the full complexity of the tissue and the organism but making high demands on the methods of analysis. Written for the popular Neuromethods series, chapters include the kind of detailed description and key implementation advice that aims to support reproducible results in the lab.

Meticulous and authoritative, Brain Energy Metabolism provides an ideal guide for researchers interested in brain energy metabolism with the hope of stimulating more research in this exciting and very important field.

Determination of CO₂ Production in Subcellular Preparations like Synaptosomes and Isolated Mitochondria Using ¹⁴C-Labeled Substrates and Radioactive CO₂ Measurements.- Transport of Lactate: Characterization of the Transporters Involved in Transport at the Plasma Membrane by Heterologous Protein Expression in Xenopus Oocytes.- Primary Cultures of Astrocytes and Neurons as Model Systems to Study the Metabolism and Metabolite Export from Brain Cells.- Metabolic Mapping of Astrocytes and Neurons in Culture Using Stable Isotopes and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS).- Metabolic Flux Analysis Tools to Investigate Brain Metabolism In Vitro.- Fluorescent Nanosensor Based Flux Analysis: Overview and the Example of Glucose.- Mitochondrial Bioenergetics Assessed by Functional Fluorescence Dyes.- RNA Interference as a Tool to Selectively Down-Modulate Protein Function.- Localizing and Quantifying Metabolites In Situ with Luminometry: Induced Metabolic Bioluminescence Imaging (imBI).- A Chip Off the Old Block: The Brain Slice as a Model for Metabolic Studies of Brain Compartmentation and Neuropharmacology.- Integrated Measurements of Electrical Activity, Oxygen Tension, Blood Flow, and Ca²⁺-Signaling in Rodents In Vivo.- Measuring Cerebral Hemodynamics and Energy Metabolism by Near-Infrared Spectroscopy.- Compartmental Analysis of Metabolism by ¹³C Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy.- Positron Emission Tomography of Brain Glucose Metabolism with [¹⁸F]Fluorodeoxyglucose in Humans.