Visualising proteins and cell types in neuroscience

The nervous system is built from a dazzling variety of specialised cells, each defined by the proteins it expresses. Understanding where these cells and proteins are located and how this organisation shifts in health and disease, is fundamental to neuroscience.

Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and fluorescence microscopy give researchers a method to see this organisation directly. By tagging specific proteins within neural tissue, researchers can identify neurons, astrocytes and microglia, distinguish progenitor from dying cells and map neuropeptide and neurotransmitter systems. Significantly, these techniques make it possible to compare how protein expression and localisation change between healthy and diseased tissue.

This type of protein visualisation is particularly valuable in neurodegeneration research. For example, pathological hallmarks such as amyloid beta and tau in Alzheimer’s disease, and alpha synuclein in Parkinson’s disease, can be visualised to investigate disease associated changes.

Importantly, the choice of antibody and detection method can influence how clearly these targets are visualised. HistoSure antibodies from SYSY Antibodies are developed for formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue, supporting protein detection in preserved samples.

For higher-precision fluorescence imaging, FluoTags from NanoTag Biotechnologies offer a much smaller alternative to conventional IgG antibodies. Their compact size improves tissue penetration and epitope access, while positioning fluorophores closer to the target for more precise localisation.

Figure 1 - FluoTag® imaging of hippocampal neurons highlights synaptic and glial proteins, with STED microscopy revealing finer synaptic detail than conventional confocal imaging.

Investigating neuroinflammation, neuronal stress and signalling

Although abnormal protein aggregates are well-known hallmarks of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, neuronal damage can emerge from a network of interacting processes involving inflammation, disrupted signalling, oxidative stress and cell death (6).

Neuroinflammation is driven largely by inflammatory responses from glial cells, while excessive glutamate signalling can cause excitotoxic neuronal damage (7). Notably, oxidative stress can also contribute to ferroptosis, an iron dependent form of regulated cell death. Rather than occurring independently, these processes can interact and amplify neuronal dysfunction as disease progresses.

Small molecules allow researchers to selectively perturb these pathways and examine how neurons and glial cells respond. Focus Biomolecules provides compounds spanning several of these mechanisms. Ibudilast can support studies of neuroinflammation and glial cell activation, kainic acid is widely used to induce neuronal excitation and model excitotoxicity, while UAMC-4821 enables researchers to investigate ferroptosis and its contribution to neuronal dysfunction.

2BScientific also supplies a broad range of antibodies against relevant neuroscience targets and biomarkers, allowing researchers to examine proteins, cell populations and signalling responses alongside these experimental models.

Together, imaging reagents, disease models, small molecules and antibodies provide complementary ways to investigate the complex biology underlying neurological disease.