A comparison of human brain dissection by drill versus saw on nucleic acid quality

Ross C. Buerlein; Thomas M. Hyde; Barbara K. Lipska; Wilton Robinson; Anchal Khosla; Joel E. Kleinman

doi:10.1016/j.jneumeth.2008.12.027

A comparison of human brain dissection by drill versus saw on nucleic acid quality

Ross C. Buerlein, Thomas M. Hyde, Barbara K. Lipska, Wilton Robinson, Anchal Khosla, Joel E. Kleinman

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study examined the effect of two dissection techniques on the quality of human brain specimens. Frozen cerebellar samples were obtained from postmortem brains of 10 subjects free from neurological and psychiatric disease. These tissues were tested for RNA and DNA concentration and quality after being dissected with either an electric dental drill or a small handsaw. RNA and DNA were extracted separately from each sample, and the concentrations and quality of each were measured. We found that dissection technique does not significantly affect RNA or DNA quality/yield. RNA and DNA yields, as well as RNA integrity showed no significant differences between the two dissection techniques. Therefore, these results support the use of a high-speed hand-held electric dental drill as an efficient and anatomically precise means of human brain dissection without compromising tissue quality.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	68-70
Number of pages	3
Journal	Journal of Neuroscience Methods
Volume	179
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneumeth.2008.12.027
State	Published - Apr 30 2009
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Cerebellum
DNA
Dissection
Postmortem
RNA

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Neuroscience

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10.1016/j.jneumeth.2008.12.027

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title = "A comparison of human brain dissection by drill versus saw on nucleic acid quality",

abstract = "This study examined the effect of two dissection techniques on the quality of human brain specimens. Frozen cerebellar samples were obtained from postmortem brains of 10 subjects free from neurological and psychiatric disease. These tissues were tested for RNA and DNA concentration and quality after being dissected with either an electric dental drill or a small handsaw. RNA and DNA were extracted separately from each sample, and the concentrations and quality of each were measured. We found that dissection technique does not significantly affect RNA or DNA quality/yield. RNA and DNA yields, as well as RNA integrity showed no significant differences between the two dissection techniques. Therefore, these results support the use of a high-speed hand-held electric dental drill as an efficient and anatomically precise means of human brain dissection without compromising tissue quality.",

keywords = "Cerebellum, DNA, Dissection, Postmortem, RNA",

author = "Buerlein, {Ross C.} and Hyde, {Thomas M.} and Lipska, {Barbara K.} and Wilton Robinson and Anchal Khosla and Kleinman, {Joel E.}",

note = "Funding Information: This research was supported in part by NIMH-COR Grant # MH-16573. This work was supported by the Intramural Program of the National Institutes of Health–National Institute of Mental Health.",

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AU - Hyde, Thomas M.

AU - Lipska, Barbara K.

AU - Robinson, Wilton

AU - Khosla, Anchal

AU - Kleinman, Joel E.

N1 - Funding Information: This research was supported in part by NIMH-COR Grant # MH-16573. This work was supported by the Intramural Program of the National Institutes of Health–National Institute of Mental Health.

PY - 2009/4/30

Y1 - 2009/4/30

N2 - This study examined the effect of two dissection techniques on the quality of human brain specimens. Frozen cerebellar samples were obtained from postmortem brains of 10 subjects free from neurological and psychiatric disease. These tissues were tested for RNA and DNA concentration and quality after being dissected with either an electric dental drill or a small handsaw. RNA and DNA were extracted separately from each sample, and the concentrations and quality of each were measured. We found that dissection technique does not significantly affect RNA or DNA quality/yield. RNA and DNA yields, as well as RNA integrity showed no significant differences between the two dissection techniques. Therefore, these results support the use of a high-speed hand-held electric dental drill as an efficient and anatomically precise means of human brain dissection without compromising tissue quality.

AB - This study examined the effect of two dissection techniques on the quality of human brain specimens. Frozen cerebellar samples were obtained from postmortem brains of 10 subjects free from neurological and psychiatric disease. These tissues were tested for RNA and DNA concentration and quality after being dissected with either an electric dental drill or a small handsaw. RNA and DNA were extracted separately from each sample, and the concentrations and quality of each were measured. We found that dissection technique does not significantly affect RNA or DNA quality/yield. RNA and DNA yields, as well as RNA integrity showed no significant differences between the two dissection techniques. Therefore, these results support the use of a high-speed hand-held electric dental drill as an efficient and anatomically precise means of human brain dissection without compromising tissue quality.

KW - Cerebellum

KW - DNA

KW - Dissection

KW - Postmortem

KW - RNA

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A comparison of human brain dissection by drill versus saw on nucleic acid quality

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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