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  • Essay / Thymidine Analogues - 1025

    Whenever a new test is developed, it must have an advantage over the already established method that outweighs the disadvantages. That is, it should ultimately empower the researcher, providing more accurate results, allowing more information to be collected, making it easier to complete, or reducing costs. Assays that monitor neurogenesis via incorporation of a thymidine analog are important tools in the study of many neurological functions. However, the many restrictions placed on current “gold standards” make the development of high-quality tests crucial. With better antibodies available for immunostaining and better methods to assess more natural environments, researchers want better tests but need conclusive evidence demonstrating their superiority. For this reason, the evaluation of the two thymidine analogues, EdU and BrdU, by Zeng et al. and verification of EdU as a superior method was necessary. To identify the appropriate dose of EdU injections and compare it to the already established BrdU dose, Zeng et al. performed a dose-response experiment. They designed this experiment not only to show dose response, but also to identify changes in treatments for each dose. Although this experiment does not compare EdU to BrdU, it determines the saturating concentration (Nmax) necessary for a proper comparison. Furthermore, this shows that the EdU test is able to detect differences between control mice and runner mice, even below saturation. The means of each dose from control mice and runner mice were analyzed by nonlinear regression analysis. For each independent variable, the dose of EdU injected (N), can be integrated into a formula (N=(Nmax(D))/(D50 + D)) which will predict the quantity of EdU-posit.... . middle of paper ......): 21-32.References[1] Berkman, Lisa F., Teresa E. Seeman, Marilyn Albert, Dan Blazer, Robert Kahn, Richard Mohs, Caleb Finch, Edward Schneider, Carl Cotman and Gerald McClearn. “High, Habitual, and Impaired Functioning in Community-Dwelling Older Men and Women: Results from the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful Aging.” Journal of Clinical Epidemiology 46.10 (1993): 1129-140. Print.[2] Blomquist, Kathleen Beckman and Fred Danner. “Effects of Physical Conditioning on Information Processing Efficiency.” Perceptual and Motor Skills 65.1 (1987): 175-86. Internet.[3] Ramon, Y. Cajal, Santiago and Raoul M. May. Degeneration and regeneration of the nervous system. New York: Hafner, 1968.[4] Ming, Guo-li and Hongjun Song. “Adult neurogenesis in the mammalian central nervous system.” Annual Review of Neuroscience 28.1 (2005): 223-50. Internet.