US EPA

1513244 

Journal Article 

Differential staining of glia and neurons by modified Golgi-Cox method 

Ranjan, A; Mallick, BN 

2012 

Yes 

Journal of Neuroscience Methods
ISSN: 0165-0270 

209 

2 

269-279 

English 

22750653 

10.1016/j.jneumeth.2012.06.023 

WOS:000308897900002 

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165027012002488
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Golgi-Cox staining has been extensively used in neuroanatomical studies. Despite its unique property to impregnate and show neuronal and glial morphology, its capricious nature, less consistency and long staining time constrain users to use it as first choice. Here we report a modification of the Golgi-Cox method to reliably and differentially stain neurons and glia in the rat brain within 48h. In summary, exposure (at any stage) of the brain or the tissue sample to be stained to a fixative [4% paraformaldehyde (PF) or 4% formaldehyde] dramatically increased the number of stained glia; whereas if the tissues were not treated with a fixative, neurons were stained. To our knowledge this is the first report of differential staining of glia and neurons using Golgi-Cox method; however, mechanism is unclear. 

Differential staining of neurons and glia; Fixative; Golgi-Cox stain; Incubation temperature