Gene Tools to Study Neuronal Apoptosis -- Detection of Apoptotic or Necrotic Death in Neuronal Cells by Morphological, Biochemical, and Molecular Analysis -- Detection of Cell Death in Neural Tissue and Cell Culture -- Cultured Cerebellar Granule Neurons as a Model of Neuronal Apoptosis -- Optimization and Validation of RT-PCR as a Tool to Analyze Gene Expression During Apoptosis -- p53 Induction Is a Marker of Neuronal Apoptosis in the Central Nervous System -- Apoptosis and Ischemia in the Central Nervous System -- Analyses of Apoptosis- Associated DNA Fragmentation In Vivo During Neurodegeneration of the Peripheral Olfactory System in Adult Mammals -- Both Irreversible Neuronal Death and Reversible Neuronal Stress Are Associated with Increased Levels of Statin, a Marker of Cell Cycle Arrest -- ?-Amyloid-Induced Neuronal Cell Death in Transgenic Mice and Alzheimer's Disease -- Use of TUNEL to Measure Retinal Ganglion Cell Apoptosis -- Methods for Detection of Apoptosis in the CNS -- Techniques for Distinguishing Apoptosis from Necrosis in Cerebrocortical and Cerebellar Neurons -- The Nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a Model System to Study Neuronal Cell Death.

In Apoptosis Techniques and Protocols leading experts offer investigators at all levels of experience an indispensable introduction to the basics of apoptosis, as well as essential details of the methods used in its study. These authorities cover such important topics as the histological, biological, and molecular criteria for apoptosis and programmed cell death; necrosis and apoptosis in the CNS; and cellular, invertebrate, animal, and human models of apoptosis in Alzheimer's disease, AIDS, and stroke. The techniques they describe examine the critical steps involved in the apoptotic process, and include PCR analysis of cell-cycle-regulated proteins, histochemical analysis of DNA regulation, DNA laddering analysis, and cytochemical alterations of living cells. Apoptosis Techniques and Protocols provides a wide variety of significant methods for both experimental and clinical investigation. It is certain to serve as an illuminating introduction to the basic ideas behind the phenomena of apoptosis and necrosis, as well as a key technical reference on the significant methodologies used in the field.