38 Neuroscience Letters, 86 (1988) 38~44 Elsevier ScientificPublishers Ireland Ltd. NSL 05190 Tools for tachykinin and neuropeptide research: a conference report Elizabeth Butcher I and Loris A. Chahl 2 1Biological & Health Sciences, Deakin University, Vie. (Australia) and 2Facultyof Medicine, University of Newcastle, N.S. IV. (Australia) (Received 13 November 1987;Revisedversion received4 December 1987;Accepted4 December 1987) Key words. Tachykinin; Substance P; Tachykinin receptor; Neurokinin; Antibody microprobe; Capsai- cin; Co-localization A symposiumentitled 'Tools for Tachykinin and Neuropeptide Research' was held on 29th and 30th August 1987,at Salamander Bay, N.S.W., Australia, as a Satellite Meeting of the Xth International Con- gress of Pharmacology.The major emphasis of the symposiumwas on methods and technical approaches which may be used for the study of tachykinins and other neuropeptides. New tools. A description of the antibody microprobe technique [5] to measure re- lease of substance P (SP) (A.W. Duggan, Canberra) and somatostatin (C.R. Morton, Canberra) in the spinal cord following peripheral noxious stimuli illustrated the potential of this new technique. The antibody microprobe is a glass microelectrode coated with antibodies to a peptide and capable of detecting release of the peptide at sites in the central nervous system (CNS) with a resolution of 100/~m. After re- moval of probes from the CNS they are incubated in radiolabelled peptide and re- lease is observed as zones of inhibition of binding of labelled peptide. Quantification is carried out using computerized densitometry. SP is detectable at concentrations down to 10 7 M. In anaesthetized cats release of SP in the substantia gelatinosa of the dorsal horn was produced by noxious stimuli. SP release also occurred in the overlying pia mater. Release of somatostatin was observed with noxious but not non- noxious thermal stimulation. Isolated preparations of the newborn rat CNS were described by M. Otsuka (Tokyo): the isolated spinal cord, the spinal cord tail, the spinal cord-nerve and the spinal cord-saphenous nerve-skin preparations. The preparations can be bathed with known concentrations of agonist or antagonist, and a peripheral stimulus ap- plied or response observed. The spinal cord-saphenous nerve-skin preparation should prove to be a particularly useful tool for the study of pain mechanisms and analgesic drugs. Corre~wondence: L.A. ChahL Facultyof Medicine, Universityof Newcastle, Newcastle, N.S.W. 2308, Aus- tralia. 0304-3940/88/$ 03.50 O 1988ElsevierScientificPublishers Ireland Ltd.