Brain Tissue Homogenizer & Homogenization Protocol

Ideal for Brain Tissue Homogenization

Do you spend lots of time and effort homogenizing brain tissue samples? The Bullet Blender® tissue homogenizer delivers high quality and superior yields. No other homogenizer comes close to delivering the Bullet Blender’s winning combination of top-quality performance and budget-friendly affordability. See below for a brain tissue homogenization protocol.

Save Time, Effort and Get Superior Results with

The Bullet Blender Homogenizer

Consistent and High Yield Results

Run up to 24 samples at the same time under microprocessor-controlled conditions, ensuring experimental reproducibility and high yield. Process samples from 10mg or less up to 3.5g.

No Cross Contamination

No part of the Bullet Blender ever touches the tissue – the sample tubes are kept closed during homogenization. There are no probes to clean between samples.

Samples Stay Cool

The Bullet Blenders’ innovative and elegant design provides convective cooling of the samples, so they do not heat up more than several degrees. In fact, our Gold+ models hold the sample temperature to about 4ºC.

Easy and Convenient to Use

Just place beads and buffer along with your tissue sample in standard tubes, load tubes directly in the Bullet Blender, select time and speed, and press start.

Risk Free Purchase

Thousands of peer-reviewed journal articles attest to the consistency and quality of the Bullet Blender homogenizer. We offer a 2 year warranty, extendable to 4 years, because our Bullet Blenders are reliable and last for many years.  

Brain Tissue Homogenization Protocol

Sample size

See the Protocol
microcentrifuge tube model (up to 300 mg) Small brain samples
5mL tube model (100mg - 1g) Medium brain samples
50mL tube model (100mg - 3.5g) Large brain samples

What Else Can You Homogenize? Tough or Soft, No Problem! 

The Bullet Blender can process a wide range of samples including organ tissue, cell culture, plant tissue, and small organisms. You can homogenize samples as tough as mouse femur or for gentle applications such as tissue dissociation or organelle isolation.

the Bullet Blender high-throughput tissue homogenizer

Brain tissue pieces (on beads in upper photo) are completely homogenized into the buffer (slightly darker in lower photo).

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    Bullet Blender Models

    Select Publications using the Bullet Blender to Homogenize Brain Tissue

    See all of our Bullet Blender publications!

    Mahinrad, S., Bulk, M., van der Velpen, I., Mahfouz, A., van Roon-Mom, W., Fedarko, N., Yasar, S., Sabayan, B., van Heemst, D., & van der Weerd, L. (2018). Natriuretic Peptides in Post-mortem Brain Tissue and Cerebrospinal Fluid of Non-demented Humans and Alzheimer’s Disease Patients. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 12, 864. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2018.00864
    Kim, J. M., Park, S. K., Guo, T. J., Kang, J. Y., Ha, J. S., Lee, D. S., Lee, U., & Heo, H. J. (2016). Anti-amnesic effect of Dendropanax morbifera via JNK signaling pathway on cognitive dysfunction in high-fat diet-induced diabetic mice. Behavioural Brain Research, 312, 39–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2016.06.013
    Murray, H. C., Low, V. F., Swanson, M. E. V., Dieriks, B. V., Turner, C., Faull, R. L. M., & Curtis, M. A. (2016). Distribution of PSA-NCAM in normal, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease human brain. Neuroscience, 330, 359–375. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2016.06.003
    David, C. N., Frias, E. S., Szu, J. I., Vieira, P. A., Hubbard, J. A., Lovelace, J., Michael, M., Worth, D., McGovern, K. E., Ethell, I. M., Stanley, B. G., Korzus, E., Fiacco, T. A., Binder, D. K., & Wilson, E. H. (2016). GLT-1-Dependent Disruption of CNS Glutamate Homeostasis and Neuronal Function by the Protozoan Parasite Toxoplasma gondii. PLOS Pathog, 12(6), e1005643. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1005643
    Perland, E., Lekholm, E., Eriksson, M. M., Bagchi, S., Arapi, V., & Fredriksson, R. (2016). The Putative SLC Transporters Mfsd5 and Mfsd11 Are Abundantly Expressed in the Mouse Brain and Have a Potential Role in Energy Homeostasis. PLOS ONE, 11(6), e0156912. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0156912
    Kumar, M., Belcaid, M., & Nerurkar, V. R. (2016). Identification of host genes leading to West Nile virus encephalitis in mice brain using RNA-seq analysis. Scientific Reports, 6. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep26350
    Vadnie, C. A., Ayers-Ringler, J., Oliveros, A., Abulseoud, O. A., Choi, S., Hitschfeld, M. J., & Choi, D.-S. (2016). Antipsychotic-like effects of a neurotensin receptor type 1 agonist. Behavioural Brain Research, 305, 8–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2016.02.019
    Hoover, C. E., Davenport, K. A., Henderson, D. M., Pulscher, L. A., Mathiason, C. K., Zabel, M. D., & Hoover, E. A. (2016). Detection and Quantification of CWD Prions in Fixed Paraffin Embedded Tissues by Real-Time Quaking-Induced Conversion. Scientific Reports, 6. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep25098
    Lui, H., Zhang, J., Makinson, S. R., Cahill, M. K., Kelley, K. W., Huang, H.-Y., Shang, Y., Oldham, M. C., Martens, L. H., Gao, F., Coppola, G., Sloan, S. A., Hsieh, C. L., Kim, C. C., Bigio, E. H., Weintraub, S., Mesulam, M.-M., Rademakers, R., Mackenzie, I. R., … Huang, E. J. (2016). Progranulin Deficiency Promotes Circuit-Specific Synaptic Pruning by Microglia via Complement Activation. Cell, 165(4), 921–935. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2016.04.001
    Zeng, X., Wang, H., Xing, X., Wang, Q., & Li, W. (2016). Dexmedetomidine Protects against Transient Global Cerebral Ischemia/Reperfusion Induced Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in Diabetic Rats. PLOS ONE, 11(3), e0151620. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0151620
    Ayers-Ringler, J. R., Oliveros, A., Qiu, Y., Lindberg, D. M., Hinton, D. J., Moore, R. M., Dasari, S., & Choi, D.-S. (2016). Label-Free Proteomic Analysis of Protein Changes in the Striatum during Chronic Ethanol Use and Early Withdrawal. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2016.00046
    Bosch, M., Fajardo, A., Alcalá-Vida, R., Fernández-Vidal, A., Tebar, F., Enrich, C., Cardellach, F., Pérez-Navarro, E., & Pol, A. (2016). Hepatic Primary and Secondary Cholesterol Deposition and Damage in Niemann-Pick Disease. The American Journal of Pathology, 186(3), 517–523. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajpath.2015.12.002
    Bakmiwewa, S. M., Weiser, S., Grey, M., Heng, B., Guillemin, G. J., Ball, H. J., & Hunt, N. H. (2016). Synergistic induction of CXCL10 by interferon-gamma and lymphotoxin-alpha in astrocytes: Possible role in cerebral malaria. Cytokine, 78, 79–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cyto.2015.11.024
    Viader, A., Ogasawara, D., Joslyn, C. M., Sanchez-Alavez, M., Mori, S., Nguyen, W., Conti, B., & Cravatt, B. F. (2016). A chemical proteomic atlas of brain serine hydrolases identifies cell type-specific pathways regulating neuroinflammation. ELife, 5, e12345. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.12345
    Hallgren, S., & Viberg, H. (2016). Postnatal exposure to PFOS, but not PBDE 99, disturb dopaminergic gene transcription in the mouse CNS. Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology, 41, 121–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.etap.2015.11.016
    Luethy, L. N., Erickson, A. K., Jesudhasan, P. R., Ikizler, M., Dermody, T. S., & Pfeiffer, J. K. (2016). Comparison of three neurotropic viruses reveals differences in viral dissemination to the central nervous system. Virology, 487, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.virol.2015.09.019
    Kim, J., Shim, J., Lee, S., Cho, W.-H., Hong, E., Lee, J. H., Han, J.-S., Lee, H. J., & Lee, K. W. (2016). Rg3-enriched ginseng extract ameliorates scopolamine-induced learning deficits in mice. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 16, 66. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-016-1050-z
    Gallart-Palau, X., Serra, A., & Sze, S. K. (2016). Enrichment of extracellular vesicles from tissues of the central nervous system by PROSPR. Molecular Neurodegeneration, 11, 41. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13024-016-0108-1
    Gallart-Palau, X., Lee, B. S. T., Adav, S. S., Qian, J., Serra, A., Park, J. E., Lai, M. K. P., Chen, C. P., Kalaria, R. N., & Sze, S. K. (2016). Gender differences in white matter pathology and mitochondrial dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease with cerebrovascular disease. Molecular Brain, 9, 27. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13041-016-0205-7
    Tristán-Noguero, A., Díez, H., Jou, C., Pineda, M., Ormazábal, A., Sánchez, A., Artuch, R., & Garcia-Cazorla, À. (2015). Study of a fetal brain affected by a severe form of tyrosine hydroxylase deficiency, a rare cause of early parkinsonism. Metabolic Brain Disease. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11011-015-9780-z
    Hajkova, K., Jurasek, B., Sykora, D., Palenicek, T., Miksatkova, P., & Kuchar, M. (2015). Salting-out-assisted liquid–liquid extraction as a suitable approach for determination of methoxetamine in large sets of tissue samples. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-015-9221-1
    Wang, Y., Billon, C., Walker, J. K., & Burris, T. P. (2015). Therapeutic Effect of a Synthetic RORα/γ Agonist in an Animal Model of Autism. ACS Chemical Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.1021/acschemneuro.5b00159
    Semple, B. D., Noble-Haeusslein, L. J., Gooyit, M., Tercovich, K. G., Peng, Z., Nguyen, T. T., Schroeder, V. A., Suckow, M. A., Chang, M., Raber, J., & Trivedi, A. (2015). Early Gelatinase Activity Is Not a Determinant of Long-Term Recovery after Traumatic Brain Injury in the Immature Mouse. PLOS ONE, 10(11), e0143386. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0143386
    Falendysz, E. A., Lopera, J. G., Lorenzsonn, F., Salzer, J. S., Hutson, C. L., Doty, J., Gallardo-Romero, N., Carroll, D. S., Osorio, J. E., & Rocke, T. E. (2015). Further Assessment of Monkeypox Virus Infection in Gambian Pouched Rats (Cricetomys gambianus) Using In Vivo Bioluminescent Imaging. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 9(10), e0004130. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0004130
    Lee, M., Chen, Z., Tomlinson, B. N., Gooyit, M., Hesek, D., Juárez, M. R., Nizam, R., Boggess, B., Lastochkin, E., Schroeder, V. A., Wolter, W. R., Suckow, M. A., Cui, J., Mobashery, S., Gu, Z., & Chang, M. (2015). Water-Soluble MMP-9 Inhibitor Reduces Lesion Volume after Severe Traumatic Brain Injury. ACS Chemical Neuroscience, 6(10), 1658–1664. https://doi.org/10.1021/acschemneuro.5b00140
    Yau, B., Mitchell, A. J., Too, L. K., Ball, H. J., & Hunt, N. H. (2015). Interferon-γ-Induced Nitric Oxide Synthase-2 Contributes to Blood/Brain Barrier Dysfunction and Acute Mortality in Experimental Streptococcus pneumoniae Meningitis. Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Research. https://doi.org/10.1089/jir.2015.0078
    Crowell, J., Hughson, A., Caughey, B., & Bessen, R. A. (2015). Host determinants of prion strain diversity independent of prion protein genotype. Journal of Virology, JVI.01586-15. https://doi.org/10.1128/JVI.01586-15
    Xu, X.-F., Li, T., Wang, D.-D., Chen, B., Wang, Y., & Chen, Z.-Y. (2015). Integrin-linked Kinase is Essential for Environmental Enrichment Enhanced Hippocampal Neurogenesis and Memory. Scientific Reports, 5, 11456. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep11456
    Grasso, C. S., Tang, Y., Truffaux, N., Berlow, N. E., Liu, L., Debily, M.-A., Quist, M. J., Davis, L. E., Huang, E. C., Woo, P. J., Ponnuswami, A., Chen, S., Johung, T. B., Sun, W., Kogiso, M., Du, Y., Qi, L., Huang, Y., Hütt-Cabezas, M., … Monje, M. (2015). Functionally defined therapeutic targets in diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma. Nature Medicine, 21(6), 555–559. https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.3855
    Ciesielska, A., Sharma, N., Beyer, J., Forsayeth, J., & Bankiewicz, K. (2015). Carbidopa-Based Modulation of the Functional Effect of the AAV2-hAADC Gene Therapy in 6-OHDA Lesioned Rats. PLOS ONE, 10(4), e0122708. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0122708
    Crowell, J., Wiley, J. A., & Bessen, R. A. (2015). Lesion of the Olfactory Epithelium Accelerates Prion Neuroinvasion and Disease Onset when Prion Replication Is Restricted to Neurons. PLOS ONE, 10(3), e0119863. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0119863
    Wang, H., Yang, Y., Li, Y., Bai, B., Wang, X., Tan, H., Liu, T., Beach, T. G., Peng, J., & Wu, Z. (2015). Systematic Optimization of Long Gradient Chromatography Mass Spectrometry for Deep Analysis of Brain Proteome. Journal of Proteome Research, 14(2), 829–838. https://doi.org/10.1021/pr500882h
    Burrell-Saward, H. (2015). Development of an imaging model of a CNS infection with African trypanosomes. [London School of Hygeine and Tropical Medicine]. http://researchonline.lshtm.ac.uk/2222110/1/2015_ITD_PhD_Burrell-Saward_H.pdf
    Evers, M. M., Schut, M. H., Pepers, B. A., Atalar, M., van Belzen, M. J., Faull, R. L., Roos, R. A., & van Roon-Mom, W. M. (2015). Making (anti-) sense out of huntingtin levels in Huntington disease. Molecular Neurodegeneration, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13024-015-0018-7
    Doldur-Balli, F., Ozel, M. N., Gulsuner, S., Tekinay, A. B., Ozcelik, T., Konu, O., & Adams, M. M. (2015). Characterization of a novel zebrafish (Danio rerio) gene, wdr81, associated with cerebellar ataxia, mental retardation and dysequilibrium syndrome (CAMRQ). BMC Neuroscience, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12868-015-0229-4
    Kumar, M., Roe, K., O’Connell, M., & Nerurkar, V. R. (2015). Induction of virus-specific effector immune cell response limits virus replication and severe disease in mice infected with non-lethal West Nile virus Eg101 strain. Journal of Neuroinflammation, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12974-015-0400-y
    Khademi, S., Frye, M. A., Jeckel, K. M., Schroeder, T., Monnet, E., Irwin, D. C., Cole, P. A., Bell, C., Miller, B. F., & Hamilton, K. L. (2015). Hypoxia mediated pulmonary edema: potential influence of oxidative stress, sympathetic activation and cerebral blood flow. BMC Physiology, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12899-015-0018-4
    Yuan, Z.-X., & Rapoport, S. I. (2015). Transient postnatal fluoxetine decreases brain concentrations of 20-HETE and 15-epi-LXA4, arachidonic acid metabolites in adult mice. Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids (PLEFA), 101, 9–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plefa.2015.07.002
    Wong, R. Y., & Godwin, J. (2015). Neurotranscriptome profiles of multiple zebrafish strains. Genomics Data, 5, 206–209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gdata.2015.06.004
    Hallgren, S., Fredriksson, A., & Viberg, H. (2015). More signs of neurotoxicity of surfactants and flame retardants – Neonatal PFOS and PBDE 99 cause transcriptional alterations in cholinergic genes in the mouse CNS. Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology, 40(2), 409–416. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.etap.2015.06.014
    Zhou, J., Coles, L. D., Kartha, R. V., Nash, N., Mishra, U., Lund, T. C., & Cloyd, J. C. (2015). Intravenous Administration of Stable-Labeled N-Acetylcysteine Demonstrates an Indirect Mechanism for Boosting Glutathione and Improving Redox Status. Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 104(8), 2619–2626. https://doi.org/10.1002/jps.24482
    Razafsky, D., & Hodzic, D. (2015). A variant of Nesprin1 giant devoid of KASH domain underlies the molecular etiology of autosomal recessive cerebellar ataxia type I. Neurobiology of Disease, 78, 57–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbd.2015.03.027
    Aryal, M., Vykhodtseva, N., Zhang, Y.-Z., & McDannold, N. (2015). Multiple sessions of liposomal doxorubicin delivery via focused ultrasound mediated blood–brain barrier disruption: A safety study. Journal of Controlled Release, 204, 60–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconrel.2015.02.033
    Hägglund, M. G. A., Hellsten, S. V., Bagchi, S., Philippot, G., Löfqvist, E., Nilsson, V. C. O., Almkvist, I., Karlsson, E., Sreedharan, S., Tafreshiha, A., & Fredriksson, R. (2015). Transport of l-Glutamine, l-Alanine, l-Arginine and l-Histidine by the Neuron-Specific Slc38a8 (SNAT8) in CNS. Journal of Molecular Biology, 427(6), 1495–1512. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmb.2014.10.016
    Drew, P. D., Johnson, J. W., Douglas, J. C., Phelan, K. D., & Kane, C. J. M. (2015). Pioglitazone Blocks Ethanol Induction of Microglial Activation and Immune Responses in the Hippocampus, Cerebellum, and Cerebral Cortex in a Mouse Model of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 39(3), 445–454. https://doi.org/10.1111/acer.12639
    Eriksson, A., Williams, M. J., Voisin, S., Hansson, I., Krishnan, A., Philippot, G., Yamskova, O., Herisson, F. M., Dnyansagar, R., Moschonis, G., Manios, Y., Chrousos, G. P., Olszewski, P. K., Frediksson, R., & Schiöth, H. B. (2015). Implication of coronin 7 in body weight regulation in humans, mice and flies. BMC Neuroscience, 16(1), 13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12868-015-0151-9
    Hu, V. W., Sarachana, T., Sherrard, R. M., & Kocher, K. M. (2015). Investigation of sex differences in the expression of RORA and its transcriptional targets in the brain as a potential contributor to the sex bias in autism. Molecular Autism, 6(1), 7. https://doi.org/10.1186/2040-2392-6-7
    Yoshida, Y., Ozawa, T., Yao, T.-W., Shen, W., Brown, D., Parsa, A. T., Raizer, J. J., Cheng, S.-Y., Stegh, A. H., Mazar, A. P., Giles, F. J., Sarkaria, J. N., Butowski, N., Nicolaides, T., & James, C. D. (2014). NT113, a Pan-ERBB Inhibitor with High Brain Penetrance, Inhibits the Growth of Glioblastoma Xenografts with EGFR Amplification. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, 13(12), 2919–2929. https://doi.org/10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-14-0306
    Zhou, C., Chen, J., Zhang, X., Costa, L. G., & Guizzetti, M. (2014). Prenatal Ethanol Exposure Up-Regulates the Cholesterol Transporters ATP-Binding Cassette A1 and G1 and Reduces Cholesterol Levels in the Developing Rat Brain. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 49(6), 626–634. https://doi.org/10.1093/alcalc/agu049
    Terryn, S., Francart, A., Lamoral, S., Hultberg, A., Rommelaere, H., Wittelsberger, A., Callewaert, F., Stohr, T., Meerschaert, K., Ottevaere, I., Stortelers, C., Vanlandschoot, P., Kalai, M., & Van Gucht, S. (2014). Protective Effect of Different Anti-Rabies Virus VHH Constructs against Rabies Disease in Mice. PLoS ONE, 9(10), e109367. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0109367

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