ABSTRACT
Axonal transport of mitochondria is critical for neuronal survival and function. Automatically quantifying and analyzing mitochondrial movement in a large quantity remain challenging. Here, we report an efficient method for imaging and quantifying axonal mitochondrial transport using microfluidic-chamber-cultured neurons together with a newly developed analysis package named "MitoQuant". This tool-kit consists of an automated program for tracking mitochondrial movement inside live neuronal axons and a transient-velocity analysis program for analyzing dynamic movement patterns of mitochondria. Using this method, we examined axonal mitochondrial movement both in cultured mammalian neurons and in motor neuron axons of Drosophila in vivo. In 3 different paradigms (temperature changes, drug treatment and genetic manipulation) that affect mitochondria, we have shown that this new method is highly efficient and sensitive for detecting changes in mitochondrial movement. The method significantly enhanced our ability to quantitatively analyze axonal mitochondrial movement and allowed us to detect dynamic changes in axonal mitochondrial transport that were not detected by traditional kymographic analyses.
Subject(s)
Animals , Rats , Axonal Transport , Physiology , Cerebral Cortex , Cell Biology , Metabolism , Drosophila melanogaster , Cell Biology , Metabolism , Embryo, Mammalian , Gene Expression , Lab-On-A-Chip Devices , Microscopy, Confocal , Mitochondria , Metabolism , Motor Neurons , Metabolism , Movement , Mutation , Primary Cell Culture , RNA-Binding Protein FUS , Genetics , Metabolism , Rats, Sprague-Dawley , SoftwareABSTRACT
Homeopathy is a relatively independent therapeutic system that is very popular in Europe and the United States. Although homeopathic medicine and Chinese medicine belongs to two different medical systems stemmed from two distinct cultural backgrounds, they do share similar philosophies, holistic treatment principles, and more importantly diagnostic approaches. This study focuses on homeopathic diagnosis and discusses its diagnostic strategies, laws and clinic practice characteristics through the comparison of homeopathic and Chinese medicine diagnosis.