5,7-Dichlorokynurenic acid sodium

The Elevated Plus Maze is a rodent anxiety-like behavior assay based on the conflict between spontaneous exploration and avoidance of open, elevated, exposed spaces. The apparatus contains two open arms and two closed arms arranged in a plus shape, and rodents normally spend more time in closed arms than open arms. The assay readout is generated by recording arm entries, time spent in open and closed arms, and related exploratory behaviors. Increased open-arm time or open-arm entries is commonly interpreted as reduced anxiety-like behavior, whereas reduced open-arm exploration is interpreted as increased anxiety-like behavior.

Whole-cell patch-clamp recording in acute brain slices measures membrane current from visually identified neurons while preserving part of the local synaptic circuit; in voltage clamp, postsynaptic currents are generated by synaptic receptor-channel activation and are recorded as inward or outward currents at a defined holding potential. Miniature synaptic currents are recorded during action-potential blockade with tetrodotoxin, whereas evoked synaptic currents are generated by pathway stimulation and isolated pharmacologically as EPSCs or IPSCs.

Directly induced neuron culture converts somatic cells, most commonly fibroblasts, into induced neurons without passing through a pluripotent or neural progenitor stage; classic evidence shows that mouse fibroblasts can be converted by Ascl1, Brn2/Pou3f2, and Myt1l, human fibroblasts can be converted by defined neuronal transcription factors, and human fibroblasts can also be converted by miR-9/9-124 with neurogenic or subtype-specifying transcription factors. The readout is acquisition of neuronal identity and function, assessed by neuronal morphology, neuronal markers such as Tuj1/βIII-tubulin, MAP2, synapsin, and subtype markers when relevant, together with functional assays such as action-potential firing, synaptic activity, and electrophysiology.