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A process by which radioactive materials often, although not exclusively, incorporated into cell structures, are located by exposure to a photographic emulsion forming a pattern on the film corresponding to the location of the radioactive compounds within the cell. A technique in which radioactive molecules make their location known by exposing photographic films or emulsions. Autoradiography is a sensitive and simple method of recording spatial distribution of radioisotope-labeled substances within a specimen material. The radioisotopic emissions release energy to the sensitive silver halide grains in the emulsion layer of the photographic film, thus forming a latent image. When treated with a developing agent , the autoradiograms yield visible density images which can be observed by the eye or measured by a densitometer for precise analysis (1). Radioisotope-labeled samples can be detected on polyacrylamide or agarose gels, nylon or nitrocellulose membranes, or thin layer chromatography plates. Autoradiography is widely used by scientists and researchers in the analysis of chemical mixtures, recombinant DNA techniques applied to genetic marker mapping, genomic sequencing, drug screening and plant fertilization studies. (1) Hahn E.J., American Laboratory 15: 64-71, 1983 Source: Spectronics Corp. Click for their site: www.spectroline.com This module is dedicated to autoradiogram analysis, the quantification of in situ hybridization (with radioactive probes) and densitometric measurements in general. It equally enables technique-specific data to be taken into account : glucose consumption, blood flow, receptor binding, western, etc. Mercator is thus targeted at neuroanatomists, pharmacologists and toxicologists monitoring the behavior of molecules on the cell, organ or entire subject.
 Measurement - The user has a range of image acquisition tools at his or her disposal : photometric background correction tools (used to correct irregularities in lighting), calibration range entry and definition tools (including calculations of Sokoloff deoxyglucose parameters or blood flow curves), drawings of anatomical regions and corresponding photometric and densitometric measurements. All the results are stored in a Microsoft Excel format file structured according to the animal, the film and the level. Images can be visualized in pseudo-color after transformation with the calibration curve for a direct concentration correspondence.
 Mercator tools - The autoradiography tools integrate perfectly with the quantification tools already present (region tracing, points, morphometric measurements, etc.).
 - Work protocols The module accepts several work protocols : - receptor analysis (saturation with radioligand or non-radiolabeled ligand, competition studies) - glucose consumption studies - blood flow studies - western blots |