Neurological tissue dissection techniques in mouse models for reproducible scientific results: Brain, spinal cord, cerebrospinal fluid, and sciatic nerve

Biomedical research studies, specifically regarding human neurodegenerative diseases, are bound by ethical challenges, and have limited diagnostic and treatment options. Transgenic mouse models provide the opportunity to conduct feasible and practical research with the ability to precisely define the progression of neurodegenerative disease over a well-controlled dosage and timeline. The use of transgenic mouse models has been extensive and is critical to advancing research in many ways, including understanding brain morphology and general tissue changes caused by neurological diseases. Often, these studies require specific brain regions or other neurological tissues which may be difficult to obtain. Unfortunately, specific extraction and dissection protocols are few and far between, leading to inconsistent results and a lack of reproducibility. A well-defined protocol, for dissection and extraction, is instrumental for acquisition of reproducible experimental results. Five mouse-specific protocols are described here: brain extraction, brain microdissection, spinal cord extrusion, cerebral spinal fluid collection, and sciatic nerve dissection. Each protocol was completed under biosafety level 2 (BSL-2) guidelines, similar to the sterility precautions required in human surgery. Each protocol also includes a required materials list that defines proper instruments and usage. The protocols were refined based on feedback from numerous research studies in transcriptomics and pharmaceutical development. These protocols minimize tissue damage, increase dissection accuracy, and increase reproducibility of results while developing skills directly transferable to clinical settings. This study provides well-defined, succinct, accessible protocols that support advancements in many cross-disciplinary areas.