Prior to analyses of
Acetylcholine
Cyclic AMP
Cyclic GMP GABA DOPA
5-HTP Serotonin
Endorphin
Catecholamines and their
metabolites Prostaglandin
Phosphorylated Proteins
INTRODUCTION
In neurochemical studies of the brain, it is of great importance to accurately measure neurochemical events in vivo. However, it is difficult to perform reproducible and meaningful measurement of these events because rapid post-mortem changes occur in the brain concentrations of several metabolites and some neurotransmitters.
Therefore, various techniques have been developed to prevent post-mortem changes. One of the more common method is cooling or freezing by immersion of the living animal and the decapitated head in liquid Nitrogen or cooled Freon to inactivate enzymes involved in the metabolism of these compounds. Although cooling is frequently used in many laboratories, it is not fully effective in preventing post-mortem changes. The time required to freeze deep structure of the brain may range from 10 - 90 seconds due to the poor thermal conductivity of tissues surrounding the brain; post-mortem changes will occur during this period.
An alternate method is microwave heating to inactivate enzymes. The method has several advantages over cooling or freezing :
If microwave power of sufficient level is focused on the animal's head, the enzymes in the whole brain can be completely inactivated in a very short time. Further, the brain can be dissected easily and reproducibly at room temperature.
Therefore, microwave irradiation system is quite useful when measuring Acetylcholine, Choline, Cyclic AMP, Cyclic GMP, GABA, DOPA, 5-HTP, Serotonin, Endorphin, Prostaglandin, Catecholamines and their metabolites in the brain and so forth.
Microwave fixation system must be such as to satisfy the following criteria:
Can elevate the temperature of brain up to 75-90șC as rapidly as possible.
Can effectively focus microwave energy only on the head of an animal.
Will give the same results from animal to animal.
The apparatus should be easily and safely used since personnel not experienced in microwave technology will use it.
Muromachi Microwave Fixation Systems are safely desigend so that the microwave leakage will not exceed 5mW/cm2 which is the Japanese safety standard for home microwave ovens.
| SPECIFICATIONS | |
| Oscillator | Toshiba Magnetron 2M68 |
| Microwave Power Output | 5kW max. |
| Oscillation Frequency | 2.450±30MHz |
| Cooling Requirements | Water Cooling |
| Water Flow | 2 litter/min |
| Exposure Time | 0.01-9.99sec (0.01sec steps) |
| Pausing Time | 3 min |
| Power Consumption | 9.7kVA |
| Frequency | 50 or 60 Hz |
| Power Requirements | 200/220VAC 40A 3Phase |
| Outside Dimensions | 935W x 640D x 1,310mmH |
| Weight | Approx. 220kg |
|
APPLICATOR HEAD |
SUITABLE ANIMAL HOLDER |
| TAW-174A | WJM-24 for Mouse 15-20g WJM-28 for Mouse 20-40g |
| TAW-424SA | WJR-S for Rat 150-250g |
| TAW-424M | WJR-M for Rat 250-400g WJR-L for Rat 400-500g |
Water-Jacketed Animal Holders (Left:Rat Holder Right:Mouse Holder)
|
The Standard System Includes: | |
| Main Unit TMW-6402C | 1 |
| Applicator Head ( Any one from the list ) | 1 |
| Animal Holder ( Any one from the list ) | 1 |
| Dust Cover | 1 |
Specifications are subject to change without notice.