Monash University, Victoria, Australia

3 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Medicine

Fetal Echocardiography and Pulsed-wave Doppler Ultrasound in a Rabbit Model of Intrauterine Growth Restriction

Ryan Hodges^1,2, Masayuki Endo¹, Andre La Gerche³, Elisenda Eixarch^4,5, Philip DeKoninck¹, Vessilina Ferferieva³, Jan D'hooge³, Euan M. Wallace², Jan Deprest¹

¹Division Woman and Child, Department Women, University Hospitals Leuven, ²The Ritchie Centre, Monash Institute of Medical Research, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Monash University, Victoria, Australia, ³Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, ⁴Fetal and Perinatal Medicine Research Group, Institut d'Investigacions Biomediques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), ⁵Maternal-Fetal Medicine Department, ICGON, Hospital Clínic, Universitat de Barcelona, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER)

We describe examination of fetal cardiac function with contemporary functional fetal echocardiography and fetoplacental Doppler ultrasound using the VisualSonics VEVO 2100 microultrasound in a surgically induced model of intrauterine fetal growth restriction in a rabbit.

Biology

Measuring Respiratory Function in Mice Using Unrestrained Whole-body Plethysmography

Rebecca Lim^1,2, Marcus J. Zavou¹, Phillipa-Louise Milton³, Siow Teng Chan¹, Jean L. Tan¹, Hayley Dickinson^1,2, Sean V. Murphy⁴, Graham Jenkin^1,2, Euan M. Wallace^1,2

¹The Ritchie Centre, Monash Institute of Medical Research, ²Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Monash Medical Centre, ³Animal Resource Centre, Perth, Australia, ⁴Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine

The assessment of respiratory physiology has traditionally relied upon techniques, which require restraint or sedation of the animal. Unrestrained whole-body plethysmography, however, provides precise, non-invasive, quantitative analysis of respiratory physiology in animal models. In addition, the technique allows repeated respiratory assessment of mice allowing for longitudinal studies.

Medicine

Isolation, Cryopreservation and Culture of Human Amnion Epithelial Cells for Clinical Applications

Sean V. Murphy¹, Amritha Kidyoor¹, Tanya Reid¹, Anthony Atala¹, Euan M. Wallace², Rebecca Lim²

¹Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest University Health Sciences, ²The Ritchie Centre, Monash Institute of Medical Research, Monash University

We describe a protocol to isolate and culture human amnion epithelial cells (hAECs) using animal product-free reagents in accordance with current good manufacturing practices (cGMP) guidelines.