Flow cytometric analysis of dna synthesis and apoptosis in central nervous system using fresh cell nuclei

Abstract

The use of fl ow cytometry in vertebrate nervous tissues is hampered by the morphological complexity and high level of interconnectivity intrinsic to their cellular constituents. Here we describe a simplifi ed procedure for the identifi cation and quantitative analysis of neural cells by fl ow cytometry based on the isolation and immunolabeling of fresh cell nuclei. We have applied this procedure for the quantitative analysis of apoptosis and DNA synthesis in the embryonic brain.