Neuropsychopharmacology Application and Research Center - Neurochemistry Laboratory (NPFUAM - NKL) was established at the beginning of 2018 within NPFUAM at Üsküdar University, which has the vision of a thematic university in the field of neuroscience.
The Neurochemistry Laboratory within NPFUAM, one of the few centers in the field of neuropsychopharmacology in the world and the only center in this field in our country, has taken the vision and goals of NPFUAM one step further and focused on understanding the neurochemical balance in the central nervous system for both etiological and pharmacological purposes and mapping neurochemical systems in the mammalian brain.
Vision
The main vision of NPFUAM NKL is to understand the chemical structure and function of the brain from micro to macro level, from intracellular molecular pathways and molecular systems that elicit neural function at the single cell level, to neurotransmitters that enable communication between neurons and the systems that these neurotransmitters form in the brain. More specifically, a neurochemical mapping of regions and subsystems that are prominent in neurodevelopmental disorders is the focus of the laboratory.
Objectives
The main goal of NPFUAM-NKL is to investigate the neurochemical mechanisms of neural disorders such as Alzheimer's, schizophrenia, autism, epilepsy, anxiety, depression and sleep disorders in order to investigate their origins and develop pharmacological applications.
Current studies conducted at NPFUAM-NKL focus on neurodevelopmental processes and disorders related to these processes.
Methods
Current studies at NPFUAM-NKL are based on in vivo models of neural disorders developed at NPFUAM. In this way, studies conducted at NPFUAM-NKL are associated with various behavioral and physiological phenotypes, providing a broader picture of the disorders studied.
Facilities and methods available in the laboratory:
- Preparation of frozen sections from fixed or fresh tissue samples,
- Tissue morphology and pathology examinations with basic histological staining (Hematoxylin-Eosin, Nissl staining, etc.)
- Investigation of neurochemical markers by immunohistochemistry and mapping in the whole brain,
- Chemical content analysis of tissue samples by thin layer chromatography
- Transparency and isolation of whole extracellular matrix in brain sections
- Examination of markers in cell culture models by immunocytochemistry
- Model generation based on experimental results with computational neuroscience and bioinformatics techniques
