Brunel University London

5 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Environment

Use of a Battery of Chemical and Ecotoxicological Methods for the Assessment of the Efficacy of Wastewater Treatment Processes to Remove Estrogenic Potency

Nicola Beresford¹, Alice Baynes¹, Rakesh Kanda¹, Matthew R. Mills², Karla Arias-Salazar², Terrence J. Collins², Susan Jobling¹

¹Institute of Environment Health and Societies, Brunel University London, ²Department of Chemistry, Carnegie Mellon University

Endocrine Disrupting Compounds (EDC) pose a substantial risk to the aquatic environment. Municipal wastewater treatment plants are major contributors to the estrogenic potency of surface waters. The methodology provided in this paper allows for an assessment of the efficacy and suitability of wastewater treatment processes with respect to EDC removal.

Developmental Biology

Defined and Scalable Generation of Hepatocyte-like Cells from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells

Yu Wang¹, Sharmin Alhaque¹, Kate Cameron¹, Jose Meseguer-Ripolles¹, Baltasar Lucendo-Villarin¹, Hassan Rashidi¹, David C. Hay¹

¹MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, University of Edinburgh

The method presented here describes a scalable and good manufacturing practice (GMP)-ready differentiation system to generate human hepatocyte-like cells from pluripotent stem cells. It serves as a cost-effective and standardized system to generate human hepatocyte-like cells for basic and applied human liver research.

Testing Ideas About Visual Perception from Real-world Observations Using Behavioral and Eye Tracking Measurements

Jennifer E. Corbett^1,2, Jaap Munneke^1,2

¹College of Health and Life Sciences, Division of Psychology, Brunel University London, ²Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, Brunel University London

We present a protocol for using convergent behavioral and eye tracking measures to develop an explanation for a real-world observation that cannot fully be accounted for by existing theories.

Developmental Biology

Serum Free Production of Three-dimensional Human Hepatospheres from Pluripotent Stem Cells

Balta Lucendo-Villarin¹, Hassan Rashidi^1,2, Sharmin Alhaque^1,3, Lena Fischer^1,4, Jose Meseguer-Ripolles¹, Yu Wang¹, Cliona O'Farrelly⁴, Michael Themis³, David C. Hay¹

¹MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, University of Edinburgh, ²UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, ³Division of Biosciences, Department of Life Sciences, College of Health and Life Sciences, Brunel University London, ⁴School of Biochemistry and Immunology, Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, Trinity College Dublin

This protocol describes an approach to produce hepatospheres from human pluripotent stem cells using a defined culture system and cell self-assembly. This protocol is reproducible in a number of cell lines, cost effective and allows the production of stable human hepatospheres for biomedical application.

Biology

Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization on DNA Halo Preparations to Reveal Whole Chromosomes, Telomeres and Gene Loci

Lauren S. Godwin¹, Emily Roberts², Joanna M. Bridger¹, Helen A. Foster²

¹Laboratory of Nuclear and Genomic Health, Centre for Genome Engineering and Maintenance, Division of Biosciences, Department of Life Sciences, College of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Brunel University London, ²Biosciences, Department of Clinical, Pharmaceutical and Biological Science, School of Life and Medical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire

Combining DNA halo preparations with fluorescence in situ hybridization enables high-resolution analysis of genomic interactions with the nucleoskeleton. Attached genome leads to hybridized fluorescent signals located within the residual extracted nuclei, whereas non-attached genome is in the halo of DNA surrounding the residual nuclei.