The importance of molecular histology to study glial influence on neurodegenerative disorders. Focus on recent developed single cell laser microdissection.

Neuron-glia interaction is involved in physiological function of neurons, however recent evidences have suggested glial cells as participants in neurotoxic and neurotrophic mechanisms of neurodegenerative/neuroregenerative processes. Histological techniques employing immunolabeling, historadiography and in situ hybridization have been useful to localize at cell levels molecules in normal and pathological situations. The intercellular accomplishment leading to neuronal injury in central nervous system disorders implies the performance of quantitative assays to better interpret the role of related molecules or signal pathways, however one limitation employing the whole tissue is the loss of cellular resolution. The laser capture microdissection was developed recently and allows the selection of specific cell types from their original environment after freezing and sectioning the tissue sampling, leading to the quantification of gene expression in individual cells, thus providing a unique opportunity to get new informations on cell signaling related to neurodegeneration. Here we reviewed the role of glial cell signaling on neurodegenerative disorders like ischemia, Parkinson and Alzheimer diseases, and also amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and what has been published with regards to single cell laser capture microdissection technique in the molecular biology investigation on these issues.