This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81571770, 81771925, 81861128001).

In this protocol, male C57Bl/6 mice were obtained from the Institute of Laboratory Animals of Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences and Sichuan Provincial People&#39;s Hospital. All animal care and experimental procedures were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China.
1. Monocular deprivation (MD) at postnatal day 28 in mice
<ol>
	<li>Put the surgical tools, the suture needle (0.25 mm diameter, string diameter 0.07 mm) and cotton swabs in an aluminum box and autoclave them at 120 &#176;C for 0.5 h. Sterilize the hood with 75% ethanol. Dry the surgical tools in a drying oven.</li>
	<li>Prepare a 2% agarose solution, put it in a water bath at 75 &#176;C to avoid solidifying.</li>
	<li>Use isoflurane mixed with oxygen to anesthetize the mouse (2% induction and 1.2&#8211;1.5% maintenance). Fix the mouse on the stereotaxic apparatus and use a heat regulating device to maintain the mouse body temperature at 37 &#176;C and prevent hypothermia.</li>
	<li>Apply a thin layer of petroleum-based eye ointment to both eyes.</li>
	<li>Under the anatomical microscope with illumination, suture the eyelid on one eye. Make the needle pass though both sides of the eyelid 2x (Figure 1A) and make about four stitches.</li>
	<li>Knot the thread 2&#8211;3x and then trim the thread. Apply 3 &#956;L of instant drying glue on the knot to increase its stability. Then cut the extra suturing thread.</li>
	<li>Provide an intraperitoneal injection of buprenorphine (1 mg/kg) to the mouse.</li>
	<li>Transfer the mouse onto a heating pad to maintain its body temperature at 37 &#176;C and prevent hypothermia and monitor it until it regains consciousness.</li>
	<li>When the mouse is fully awake place it into a separate holding cage.</li>
	<li>Check the eyelids daily to ensure that they remain shut and uninfected. Exclude the mouse if an eyelid opening is found.</li>
	<li>Before electrophysiological recording, use isoflurane mixed with oxygen to anesthetize the mouse (2% induction and 1.2&#8211;1.5% maintenance).</li>
	<li>Remove the stitches with eye scissors to expose the eyeball. Carefully trim the eye lids.</li>
	<li>Flush the eye with lens solution and check the eye under a microscope for clarity. Exclude mice with corneal opacities or signs of infection.</li>
</ol>
2. Craniotomy in the mouse V1 binocular region after monocular deprivation on the 4th day
<ol>
	<li>After anesthetizing the mouse, check for the depth of anesthesia by the lack of response to a toe pinch.</li>
	<li>Place and fix the mouse on the stereotaxic apparatus. Adjust the height of the ear bar and tooth rod to keep the brain flat and stable.</li>
	<li>Use a heating pad to maintain the body temperature.</li>
	<li>Apply a petroleum-based eye ointment on the surface of the eyes to keep them moist.</li>
	<li>Remove the hair on the mouse&#39;s head to expose its skin. Rub the skin with alternating scrubs of iodine and 70% ethanol 3x.</li>
	<li>Incise an 8 x 8 mm area of the skin between the ears to expose the skull and remove the scalp tissue. Then remove the overlying connective tissue with 30% hydrogen peroxide.</li>
	<li>Drill a 1 x 1 mm hole in the skull above the cerebellum. Affix a small bone screw in the hole as a reference.</li>
	<li>Perform a small craniotomy of 1 mm in diameter in the V1 binocular region from the contralateral hemisphere to the deprived eye (Figure 1B, A-P: lambda -0.51&#8211;lambda +1.67 mm; M-L: -2.6&#8211; -3.0 mm; D-V: 0&#8211;1 mm). Carefully remove the skull fragment without hurting the brain.</li>
	<li>Cover the exposed cortical surface with 75 &#956;L of 2% agarose at 40 &#176;C to prevent drying.</li>
	<li>Fix a tungsten electrode on the stereotaxic frame. Place the tungsten electrode vertically on the surface of the exposed cortex, the binocular region of V1, to make sure that the cells that are recorded react to both eyes.</li>
	<li>Use cotton swabs to remove the eye gel and apply silicon oil to the eye every 2 h.</li>
</ol>
3. Visual stimulation and electrophysiological recording
<ol>
	<li>Mask the one eye with nontransparent plastic plate. Position an LCD monitor 23 cm from the mouse&#39;s eye.</li>
	<li>Reduce the anesthesia to 0.5&#8211;0.8% when the mouse is fully anesthetized.</li>
	<li>Advance the microelectrode electrode slowly with an oil hydraulic micromanipulator. Stop it when a high signal-to-noise ratio is observed and the electrode is advanced to layer 4 (Figure 1C, approximately 250&#8211;450 &#956;m in depth). Ensure that the amplification factor is set at 1,000, the filter at 300&#8211;100 Hz, and the sample rate at 40 Hz.</li>
	<li>Present a full-field moving sinusoidal grating (Figure 1D, 12 directions, 100% contrast, 2 Hz of temporary frequency, 0.04 cycles per degree of spatial frequency) on the LED monitor.</li>
	<li>Measure the cell&#39;s response by stimulating the ipsilateral and contralateral eye separately. Present 3&#8211;5x total.</li>
	<li>Measure the responses of five to eight cells in each penetration. Perform four to six penetrations in each mouse.</li>
	<li>After the recording, adjust the isoflurane flow rate to 5% or greater, continue isoflurane exposure for 1 min, and then perform the cervical dislocation. 
	NOTE: Separate penetrations were spaced at least 200 &#956;m apart in the V1 binocular zone.</li>
</ol>
4. Off-line spike sorting and data analysis
<ol>
	<li>Detect spikes when the raw signal crosses a threshold level. Align captured spikes on the first positive or negative peak. Use software to detect spikes from different cells.</li>
	<li>Set two cursors: one for positive and the other for negative deflection. Set the spike template (Figure 2A). Set the template area to that with the most significant variation between different classes of spikes.</li>
	<li>Use principal component analysis to separate them into clusters. Clustering methods can vary between different laboratories.</li>
	<li>Classify the spike of a boundary by using the K-means algorithm.</li>
	<li>Correlate the orientation with the spike firing rate and plot the orientation tuning curves for the ipsilateral and contralateral eye.</li>
	<li>Calculate the OD index for the single unit, which represents the contralateral/ipsilateral response strength ratio: 
	<img alt="Equation 1" src="/files/ftp_upload/60600/60600eq1a.jpg" /> 
	where Rcontra and Ripsi are the cell&#39;s optimal response for the contralateral and ipsilateral eye, respectively, and Rspon is the cell&#39;s spontaneous activity.</li>
	<li>Assign OD scores to 1&#8211;7 as follows: &#8722; 1 to &#8722;0.75 = 1; &#8722;0.75 to &#8722;0.45 = 2; &#8722;0.45 to &#8722;0.15 = 3; &#8722;0.15 to 0.15 = 4; 0.15 to 0.45 = 5; 0.45 to 0.75 = 6; and 0.75 to 1 = 7.</li>
	<li>Calculate the contralateral bias index (CBI): 
	<img alt="Equation 2" src="/files/ftp_upload/60600/60600eq2a.jpg" /> 
	where N is the cell number, and nx equals the cell number with OD scores equal to x.</li>
</ol>

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E., Gordon, B. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Critical+period+for+the+monocular+deprivation+effect+in+rats:+assessment+with+sweep+visually+evoked+potentials.">Critical period for the monocular deprivation effect in rats: assessment with sweep visually evoked potentials.</a> Journal of Neurophysiology. 81 (1), 121-128 (1999).</li><li>Wang, L., Sarnaik, R., Rangarajan, K. V., Liu, X., Cang, J. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Visual+receptive+field+properties+of+neurons+in+the+superficial+superior+colliculus+of+the+mouse.">Visual receptive field properties of neurons in the superficial superior colliculus of the mouse.</a> Journal of Neuroscience. 30 (49), 16573-16584 (2010).</li><li>Niell, C. 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The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests.

We present a detailed protocol for MD and measuring OD plasticity by single unit recording. This protocol is widely used in visual neuroscience. Although the MD protocol is not complicated, there are some critical surgical procedures that must be followed carefully. First, there are two important details ensuring the quality of the stitching. The suture is sufficiently stable if the stitches are concentrated in the medial portion of the eyelid. Moreover, 3 &#956;L of glue is applied to the head of the knot to increase th...

Monocular visual deprivation is an excellent experimental paradigm to examine V1 plasticity. To study the importance of visual experience in neural development, David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel1,2 deprived kittens of normal vision in one eye at various time points and for varying periods of time. They then observed the changes in response intensity in V1 for the deprived and nondeprived eyes. Their results showed an abnormally low number of neurons reacting to the eye that had been sutured shut in the first three months. However, the responses from the neurons in the kittens remained identical in all respects to those of a normal adult cat&#39;s eye that was sutured shut for a year, and the kittens did not recover. MD in adult cats cannot induce OD plasticity. Therefore, the impact of visual experience on V1 wiring is strong during a brief, well-defined phase of development, before and after which the same stimuli have less influence. Such a phase of increased susceptibility to visual input is known as the critical period in visual cortex.
Although the mouse is a nocturnal animal, individual neurons in mouse V1 have similar properties to neurons found in cats3,4,5. In recent years, with the rapid development of transgenic technology, an increasing number of studies in visual neuroscience have used mice as an experimental model6,7,8. In mouse visual studies, neuroscientists use mutants and knockout mouse lines, which allow control over the genetic makeup of the mice. Although mice V1 lack OD columns, single neurons in the V1 binocular zone show significant OD properties. For example, most cells respond more strongly to contralateral stimulation than to ipsilateral stimulation. Temporary closure of one eye during the critical period induces a significant shift in the OD index distribution9,10,11. Therefore, MD can be used to establish an OD plasticity model to investigate how genes involved in neural developmental disorders influence cortical plasticity in vivo.
Here, we introduce an experimental method for MD and suggest a commonly used method (electrophysiological recording) to analyze the change in OD plasticity during monocular visual deprivation. The method has been widely used in many laboratories for more than 20 years12,13,14,15,16. There are other methods used in measuring the OD plasticity as well, such as chronic visual evoked potential (VEP) recording17, and intrinsic optical imaging (IOI)18. The significant advantage of this acute method is that it is easy to follow, and the results are remarkably reliable.

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monocular visual deprivation and ocular dominance plasticity measurement in the mouse primary visual cortex

Monocular visual deprivation is an excellent experimental paradigm to induce primary visual cortical response plasticity. In general, the response of the cortex to the contralateral eye to a stimulus is much stronger than the response of the ipsilateral eye in the binocular segment of the mouse primary visual cortex (V1). During the mammalian critical period, suturing the contralateral eye will result in a rapid loss of responsiveness of V1 cells to contralateral eye stimulation. With the continuing development of transgenic technologies, more and more studies are using transgenic mice as experimental models to examine the effects of specific genes on ocular dominance (OD) plasticity. In this study, we introduce detailed protocols for monocular visual deprivation and calculate the change in OD plasticity in mouse V1. After monocular deprivation (MD) for 4 days during the critical period, the orientation tuning curves of each neuron are measured, and the tuning curves of layer four neurons in V1 are compared between stimulation of the ipsilateral and contralateral eyes. The contralateral bias index (CBI) can be calculated using each cell&#39;s ocular OD score to indicate the degree of OD plasticity. This experimental technique is important for studying the neural mechanisms of OD plasticity during the critical period and for surveying the roles of specific genes in neural development. The major limitation is that the acute study cannot investigate the change in neural plasticity of the same mouse at a different time.

The experimental results described here enable successful MD and OD plasticity measurements from a deprived and nondeprived mouse during the critical period (P19&#8211;P32). Figure 1 shows how to perform single unit recordings in layer 4 from V1 the binocular zone for comparing responses in the ipsilateral and contralateral eye 4 days after MD. Figure 2 shows the spike sorting and orientation tuning measurements for stimulating the ipsilateral and contralateral ...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Monocular Visual Deprivation and Ocular Dominance Plasticity Measurement in the Mouse Primary Visual Cortex at JoVE.com

Monocular Visual Deprivation and Ocular Dominance Plasticity Measurement in the Mouse Primary Visual Cortex

Here, we present detailed protocols for monocular visual deprivation and ocular dominance plasticity analysis, which are important methods for studying the neural mechanisms of visual plasticity during the critical period and the effects of specific genes on visual development.

Monocular visual deprivation is an excellent experimental paradigm to induce primary visual cortical response plasticity. In general, the response of the ...

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Research

JoVE Journal

Developmental Biology

9.6K Views.  University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. Here, we present detailed protocols for monocular visual deprivation and ocular dominance plasticity analysis, which are important methods for studying the neural mechanisms of visual plasticity during the critical period and the effects of specific genes on visual development.

Video: Monocular Visual Deprivation and Ocular Dominance Plasticity Measurement in the Mouse Primary Visual Cortex

Production and Use of Lentivirus to Selectively Transduce Primary Oligodendrocyte Precursor Cells for In Vitro Myelination Assays

Myelination is a complex process that involves both neurons and the myelin forming glial cells, oligodendrocytes in the central nervous system (CNS) and Schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system (PNS). We use an in vitro myelination assay, an established model for studying CNS myelination in vitro. To do this, oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) are added to the purified primary rodent dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons to form myelinating co-cultures. In order to specifically interrogate the roles that particular proteins expressed by oligodendrocytes exert upon myelination we have developed protocols that selectively transduce OPCs using the lentivirus overexpressing wild type, constitutively active or dominant negative proteins before being seeded onto the DRG neurons. This allows us to specifically interrogate the roles of these oligodendroglial proteins in regulating myelination. The protocols can also be applied in the study of other cell types, thus providing an approach that allows selective manipulation of proteins expressed by a desired cell type, such as oligodendrocytes for the targeted study of signaling and compensation mechanisms. In conclusion, combining the in vitro myelination assay with lentiviral infected OPCs provides a strategic tool for the analysis of molecular mechanisms involved in myelination.

Production and Use of Lentivirus to Selectively Transduce Primary Oligodendrocyte Precursor Cells for In Vitro Myelination Assays

Here we present protocols that offer a flexible and strategic foundation for virally manipulating oligodendrocyte precursor cells to overexpress proteins of interest in order to specifically interrogate their role in oligodendrocytes via the in vitro model of central nervous system myelination.

Myelination is a complex process that involves both neurons and the myelin forming glial cells, oligodendrocytes in the central nervous system (CNS) and ...

Generating Primary Fibroblast Cultures from Mouse Ear and Tail Tissues

Primary cells are derived directly from tissue and are thought to be more representative of the physiological state of cells in vivo than established cell lines. However, primary cell cultures usually have a finite life span and need to be frequently re-established. Fibroblasts are an easily accessible source of primary cells. Here, we discuss a simple and quick experimental procedure to establish primary fibroblast cultures from ears and tails of mice. The protocol can be used to establish primary fibroblast cultures from ears stored at RT for up to 10 days. When the protocol is carefully followed, contaminations are unlikely to occur despite the use of non-sterile tissue stored for extended time in some cases. Fibroblasts proliferate rapidly in culture and can be expanded to substantial numbers before undergoing replicative senescence.

We describe a simple and quick experimental procedure for generating primary fibroblasts from the ears and tails of mice. The procedure does not require special animal training and can be used for the generation of fibroblast cultures from ears stored at RT for up to 10 days.

Primary cells are derived directly from tissue and are thought to be more representative of the physiological state of cells in vivo than established cell ...

Live Imaging of Mouse Secondary Palate Fusion

The fusion of the secondary palatal shelves to form the intact secondary palate is a key process in mammalian development and its disruption can lead to cleft secondary palate, a common congenital anomaly in humans. Secondary palate fusion has been extensively studied leading to several proposed cellular mechanisms that may mediate this process. However, these studies have been mostly performed on fixed embryonic tissues at progressive timepoints during development or in fixed explant cultures analyzed at static timepoints. Static analysis is limited for the analysis of dynamic morphogenetic processes such a palate fusion and what types of dynamic cellular behaviors mediate palatal fusion is incompletely understood. Here we describe a protocol for live imaging of ex vivo secondary palate fusion in mouse embryos. To examine cellular behaviors of palate fusion, epithelial-specific Keratin14-cre was used to label palate epithelial cells in ROSA26-mTmGflox reporter embryos. To visualize filamentous actin, Lifeact-mRFPruby reporter mice were used. Live imaging of secondary palate fusion was performed by dissecting recently-adhered secondary palatal shelves of embryonic day (E) 14.5 stage embryos and culturing in agarose-containing media on a glass bottom dish to enable imaging with an inverted confocal microscope. Using this method, we have detected a variety of novel cellular behaviors during secondary palate fusion. An appreciation of how distinct cell behaviors are coordinated in space and time greatly contributes to our understanding of this dynamic morphogenetic process. This protocol can be applied to mutant mouse lines, or cultures treated with pharmacological inhibitors to further advance understanding of how secondary palate fusion is controlled.

Here, we present a protocol for live imaging of mouse secondary palate fusion using confocal microscopy. This protocol can be used in combination with a variety of fluorescent reporter mouse lines, and with pathway inhibitors for mechanistic insight. This protocol can be adapted for live imaging in other developmental systems.

The fusion of the secondary palatal shelves to form the intact secondary palate is a key process in mammalian development and its disruption can lead to ...

Dissection and Immunofluorescent Staining of Mushroom Body and Photoreceptor Neurons in Adult Drosophila melanogaster Brains

Nervous system development involves a sequential series of events that are coordinated by several signaling pathways and regulatory networks. Many of the proteins involved in these pathways are evolutionarily conserved between mammals and other eukaryotes, such as the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, suggesting that similar organizing principles exist during the development of these organisms. Importantly, Drosophila has been used extensively to identify cellular and molecular mechanisms regulating processes that are required in mammals including neurogenesis, differentiation, axonal guidance, and synaptogenesis. Flies have also been used successfully to model a variety of human neurodevelopmental diseases. Here we describe a protocol for the step-by-step microdissection, fixation, and immunofluorescent localization of proteins within the adult Drosophila brain. This protocol focuses on two example neuronal populations, mushroom body neurons and retinal photoreceptors, and includes optional steps to trace individual mushroom body neurons using Mosaic Analysis with a Repressible Cell Marker (MARCM) technique. Example data from both wild-type and mutant brains are shown along with a brief description of a scoring criteria for axonal guidance defects. While this protocol highlights two well-established antibodies for investigating the morphology of mushroom body and photoreceptor neurons, other Drosophila brain regions and the localization of proteins within other brain regions can also be investigated using this protocol.

Dissection and Immunofluorescent Staining of Mushroom Body and Photoreceptor Neurons in Adult Drosophila melanogaster Brains

This protocol describes the dissection and immunostaining of adult Drosophila melanogaster brain tissues. Specifically, this protocol highlights the use of Drosophila mushroom body and photoreceptor neurons as example neuronal subsets that can be accurately used to uncover general principles underlying many aspects of neuronal development.

Nervous system development involves a sequential series of events that are coordinated by several signaling pathways and regulatory networks. Many of the ...

Evaluation of Injury-induced Senescence and In Vivo Reprogramming in the Skeletal Muscle

Cellular senescence is a stress response that is characterized by a stable cellular growth arrest, which is important for many physiological and pathological processes, such as cancer and ageing. Recently, senescence has also been implicated in tissue repair and regeneration. Therefore, it has become increasingly critical to identify senescent cells in vivo. Senescence-associated &#946;-galactosidase (SA-&#946;-Gal) assay is the most widely used assay to detect senescent cells both in culture and in vivo. This assay is based on the increased lysosomal contents in the senescent cells, which allows the histochemical detection of lysosomal &#946;-galactosidase activity at suboptimum pH (6 or 5.5). In comparison with other assays, such as flow cytometry, this allows the identification of senescent cells in their resident environment, which offers valuable information such as the location relating to the tissue architecture, the morphology, and the possibility of coupling with other markers via immunohistochemistry&#160;(IHC). The major limitation of the SA-&#946;-Gal assay is the requirement of fresh or frozen samples.
Here, we present a detailed protocol to understand how cellular senescence promotes cellular plasticity and tissue regeneration in vivo. We use SA-&#946;-Gal to detect senescent cells in the skeletal muscle upon injury, which is a well-established system to study tissue regeneration. Moreover, we use&#160;IHC to detect Nanog, a marker of pluripotent stem cells, in a transgenic mouse model. This protocol enables us to examine and quantify cellular senescence in the context of induced cellular plasticity and in vivo reprogramming.

Evaluation of Injury-induced Senescence and In Vivo Reprogramming in the Skeletal Muscle

Here we present a detailed protocol to detect both senescent and pluripotent stem cells in the skeletal muscle upon injury while inducing in vivo reprogramming. This method is suitable for evaluating the role of cellular senescence during tissue regeneration and reprogramming in vivo.

Cellular senescence is a stress response that is characterized by a stable cellular growth arrest, which is important for many physiological and ...

Multi-Photon Time Lapse Imaging to Visualize Development in Real-time: Visualization of Migrating Neural Crest Cells in Zebrafish Embryos

Congenital eye and craniofacial anomalies reflect disruptions in the neural crest, a transient population of migratory stem cells that give rise to numerous cell types throughout the body. Understanding the biology of the neural crest has been limited, reflecting a lack of genetically tractable models that can be studied in vivo and in real-time. Zebrafish is a particularly important developmental model for studying migratory cell populations, such as the neural crest. To examine neural crest migration into the developing eye, a combination of the advanced optical techniques of laser scanning microscopy with long wavelength multi-photon fluorescence excitation was implemented to capture high-resolution, three-dimensional, real-time videos of the developing eye in transgenic zebrafish embryos, namely Tg(sox10:EGFP) and Tg(foxd3:GFP), as sox10 and foxd3 have been shown in numerous animal models to regulate early neural crest differentiation and likely represent markers for neural crest cells. Multi-photon time-lapse imaging was used to discern the behavior and migratory patterns of two neural crest cell populations contributing to early eye development. This protocol provides information for generating time-lapse videos during zebrafish neural crest migration, as an example, and can be further applied to visualize the early development of many structures in the zebrafish and other model organisms.

A combination of the advanced optical techniques of laser scanning microscopy with long wavelength multi-photon fluorescence excitation was implemented to capture high-resolution, three-dimensional, real-time imaging of neural crest migration in Tg(sox10:EGFP) and Tg(foxd3:GFP) zebrafish embryos.

Congenital eye and craniofacial anomalies reflect disruptions in the neural crest, a transient population of migratory stem cells that give rise to ...

Culturing of Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells on an Ex Vivo Model of Aged Human Bruch's Membrane

Aside from vitamins and antioxidants recommended by the Age-Related Eye Disease Study, there is no effective therapy for &#34;dry,&#34;&#160;or atrophic age-related macular degeneration (AMD) which represents 90% of the cases. Therapies are needed to slow or retard the development of geographic atrophy (GA), and understanding Bruch&#39;s membrane pathology is part of this process. Alterations in human Bruch&#39;s membrane precede the progression of AMD by contributing to the damage of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells. Given the lack of sufficient animal models to study AMD, ex vivo models of aged human Bruch&#39;s membrane serve as a useful tool to study the behavior of RPE cells from immortalized and primary cell lines as well as RPE lines derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Here, we present a detailed method that allows one to determine the effects of RPE cell behavior seeded on harvested human Bruch&#39;s membrane explants from human donors, including attachment, apoptosis and proliferation, ability to phagocytize photoreceptor outer segments, establishment of polarity, and gene expression. This assay provides an ex vivo model of aged Bruch&#39;s membrane to assess the functional characteristics of RPE cells when seeded on aged/compromised extracellular matrix.

Culturing of Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells on an Ex Vivo Model of Aged Human Bruch&#039;s Membrane

The goal of this protocol is to demonstrate the culturing of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells on aged and/or diseased human Bruch&#39;s membrane. This method is suitable to study RPE cell behavior on a compromised extracellular matrix.

Aside from vitamins and antioxidants recommended by the Age-Related Eye Disease Study, there is no effective therapy for &#34;dry,&#34;&#160;or atrophic ...

Induction and Validation of Cellular Senescence in Primary Human Cells

Cellular senescence is a state of permanent cell cycle arrest activated in response to different damaging stimuli. Activation of cellular senescence is a hallmark of various pathophysiological conditions including tumor suppression, tissue remodeling and aging. The inducers of cellular senescence in vivo are still poorly characterized. However, a number of stimuli can be used to promote cellular senescence ex vivo. Among them, most common senescence-inducers are replicative exhaustion, ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, genotoxic drugs, oxidative stress, and demethylating and acetylating agents. Here, we will provide detailed instructions on how to use these stimuli to induce fibroblasts into senescence. This protocol can easily be adapted for different types of primary cells and cell lines, including cancer cells. We also describe different methods for the validation of senescence induction. In particular, we focus on measuring the activity of the lysosomal enzyme Senescence-Associated &#946;-galactosidase (SA-&#946;-gal), the rate of DNA synthesis using 5-ethynyl-2&#39;-deoxyuridine (EdU) incorporation assay, the levels of expression of the cell cycle inhibitors p16 and p21, and the expression and secretion of members of the Senescence-Associated Secretory Phenotype (SASP). Finally, we provide example results and discuss further applications of these protocols.

Here, we discuss a series of protocols for induction and validation of cellular senescence in cultured cells. We focus on different senescence-inducing stimuli and describe the quantification of common senescence-associated markers. We provide technical details using fibroblasts as a model, but the protocols can be adapted to various cellular models.

Cellular senescence is a state of permanent cell cycle arrest activated in response to different damaging stimuli. Activation of cellular senescence is a ...

Visualizing the Node and Notochordal Plate In Gastrulating Mouse Embryos Using Scanning Electron Microscopy and Whole Mount Immunofluorescence

The post-implantation mouse embryo undergoes major shape changes after the initiation of gastrulation and morphogenesis. A hallmark of morphogenesis is the formation of the transient organizers, the node and notochordal plate, from cells that have passed through the primitive streak. The proper formation of these signaling centers is essential for the development of the body plan and techniques to visualize them are of high interest to mouse developmental biologists. The node and notochordal plate lie on the ventral surface of gastrulating mouse embryos around embryonic day (E) 7.5 of development. The node is a cup-shaped structure whose cells possess a single slender cilium each. The proper subcellular localization and rotation of the cilia in the node pit determines left-right asymmetry. The notochordal plate cells also possess single cilia albeit shorter than those of the node cells. The notochordal plate forms the notochord which acts as an important signaling organizer for somitogenesis and neural patterning. Because the cells of the node and notochordal plate are transiently present on the surface and possess cilia, they can be visualized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Among other techniques used to visualize these structures at the cellular level is whole mount immunofluorescence (WMIF) using the antibodies against the proteins that are highly expressed in the node and notochordal plate. In this report, we describe our optimized protocols to perform SEM and WMIF of the node and notochordal plate in developing mouse embryos to help in the assessment of tissue shape and cellular organization in wild-type and gastrulation mutant embryos.

The node and notochordal plate are transient signaling organizers in developing mouse embryos that can be visualized using several techniques. Here, we describe in detail how to perform two of the techniques to study their structure and morphogenesis: 1) scanning electron microscopy (SEM); and 2) whole mount immunofluorescence (WMIF).

The post-implantation mouse embryo undergoes major shape changes after the initiation of gastrulation and morphogenesis. A hallmark of morphogenesis is ...

Visualization of the Superior Ocular Sulcus during Danio rerio Embryogenesis

Congenital ocular coloboma is a genetic disorder that is typically observed as a cleft in the inferior aspect of the eye resulting from incomplete choroid fissure closure. Recently, the identification of individuals with coloboma in the superior aspect of the iris, retina, and lens led to the discovery of a novel structure, referred to as the superior fissure or superior ocular sulcus (SOS), that is transiently present on the dorsal aspect of the optic cup during vertebrate eye development. Although this structure is conserved across mice, chick, fish, and newt, our current understanding of the SOS is limited. In order to elucidate factors that contribute to its formation and closure, it is imperative to be able to observe it and identify abnormalities, such as delay in the closure of the SOS. Here, we set out to create a standardized series of protocols that can be used to efficiently visualize the SOS by combining widely available microscopy techniques with common molecular biology techniques such as immunofluorescent staining and mRNA overexpression. While this set of protocols focuses on the ability to observe SOS closure delay, it is adaptable to the experimenter&#39;s needs and can be easily modified. Overall, we hope to create an approachable method through which our understanding of the SOS can be advanced to expand the current knowledge of vertebrate eye development.

Visualization of the Superior Ocular Sulcus during Danio rerio Embryogenesis

Here, we present a standardized series of protocols to observe the superior ocular sulcus, a recently-identified, evolutionarily-conserved structure in the vertebrate eye. Using zebrafish larvae, we demonstrate techniques necessary to identify factors that contribute to the formation and closure of the superior ocular sulcus.

Congenital ocular coloboma is a genetic disorder that is typically observed as a cleft in the inferior aspect of the eye resulting from incomplete choroid ...