ASTA is a methodology for precision harvesting and processing of tissue from acute brain slices for the purposes of cell and molecular biology/analysis. There are currently no known approaches to sampling tissue from hard-to-reach regions of the brain that has been cut acutely into 100 to 500 microns-thick sections for cell biological analysis. Laser dissection is inapplicable/inadequate, laser dissection is more suited for a monolayer of cells. ASTA solves this problem by incorporating 1) visually guided core sampling component and 2) a tissue processing component. Together, this methodology enables precision analysis and tracking of cellular and molecular changes across juxtaposed brain regions (nuclei) and lamina allowing for detailed characterization of disease-related pathology.
