Posted by Larry Hoover on December 20, 2005, at 1:48:41
In reply to what is Fos-Immunoreactivity?, posted by law663 on December 19, 2005, at 19:58:29
> Can someone tell me what Fos-Immunoreactivity is?
It is a method of determining neuronal activation. When a neuron is activated, it begins to express a protein the is the product of a gene called c-fos (fos for short). They have developed a substance that binds to that c-fos protein via an immune-like reaction. That complex can then be stained, so that it stands out from the background. The pattern of activated cells will thus be distinguishable from those not so activated. This is a process conducted on "sacrificed" creatures, i.e. post-mortem.
In a broader sense, this specific example you mentioned falls in the category of what is called immunohistochemical detection. They have immune primers for many different neuronal proteins, so depending on what the scientist is trying to find, they can use the appropriate immunoreactive binding agent, because those agents are both highly specific, and very efficient.
Back to your Fos-Immunoreactivity question. Somebody was trying to find a very general signal for neuronal activation, based on some manipulation they were doing. They could say, "substance X activated neurons of type y, in brain region Z", based on C-fos immunoreactive staining.
Lar
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:590496
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051211/msgs/590592.html