Flagship has expanded our capabilities in neurodegenerative disease and neurotoxicity with both dedicated staff and advanced histology and image analysis capabilities. Flagship offers a wide variety of novel neuro analysis approaches spanning chromogenic and fluorescence histology and two dimensional whole section image analysis and stereological approaches.
The central nervous system is a fundamental part of the human body’s response system. As life expectancy lengthens, a wide range of disorders (including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, MS, dementia and depression), are becoming increasingly widespread in the population creating an ever greater need for new pharmaceutical therapies.
Much of the early stage pharmacology work is conducted in transgenic mouse models, and the ability to measure changes relies on two dimensional observations taken from histology sections and observed by trained scientists or pathologists. Flagship’s brightfield and fluorescence whole slide imaging, combined with powerful custom image analysis techniques increases throughput, decreases variability and allows the evaluation of changes to both labeled and unlabeled neuronal and non-neuronal cells.
Our neurological studies can be provided as either a complete service or specific expertise to supplement in-house capabilities, including study planning, vivarium/animal culture, histology and immunohistochemistry/immunofluorescence, whole slide image analysis or stereology, and pathologist or neuroscientist review and study report.
Some examples of common protocols are listed below:
Measuring microglial activation
Amyloid plaques in a mouse brain