UT MD Anderson Cancer Center

7 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

JoVE Journal

Local and Global Methods of Assessing Thermal Nociception in Drosophila Larvae

Abanti Chattopadhyay^*1, A'Tondra V. Gilstrap^*1,2, Michael J. Galko^1,3,4

¹Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, ²Scholars Academy/MARC Scholar, University of Houston-Downtown, ³Genes and Development Graduate Program, University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, ⁴Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences

In this article, we demonstrate assays to study thermal nociception in Drosophila larvae. One assay involves spatially-restricted (local) stimulation of thermal nociceptors^1,2 while the second involves a wholesale (global) activation of most or all such neurons³. Together, these techniques allow visualization and quantification of the behavioral functions of Drosophila nociceptive sensory neurons.

Medicine

Utilizing Murine Inducible Telomerase Alleles in the Studies of Tissue Degeneration/Regeneration and Cancer

Takashi Shingu¹, Mariela Jaskelioff², Liang Yuan¹, Zhihu Ding³, Alexei Protopopov⁴, Maria Kost-Alimova⁴, Jian Hu¹

¹Department of Cancer Biology, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, ²Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, ³Sanofi US, ⁴Institute of Applied Cancer Science, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center

Telomere and telomerase play essential roles in ageing and tumorigenesis. The goal of this protocol is to show how to generate two murine inducible telomerase knock-in alleles and how to utilize them in the studies of tissue degeneration/regeneration and cancer.

JoVE Core

Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Active ERK in the C. elegans Germline

Amanda L. Gervaise¹, Swathi Arur^1,2

¹Program in Developmental Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, ²Department of Genetics, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center

We present an immunofluorescence imaging-based method for spatial and temporal localization of active ERK in the dissected C. elegans gonad. The protocol described here can be adapted for visualization of any signaling or structural protein in the C. elegans gonad, provided a suitable antibody reagent is available.

JoVE Core

Differential Scanning Calorimetry — A Method for Assessing the Thermal Stability and Conformation of Protein Antigen

Ibrahim B. Durowoju¹, Kamaljit S. Bhandal¹, Jian Hu¹, Bruce Carpick¹, Marina Kirkitadze¹

¹Analytical Research & Development, Sanofi Pasteur Limited

Differential scanning calorimetry measures the thermal transition temperature(s) and total heat energy required to denature a protein. Results obtained are used to assess the thermal stability of protein antigens in vaccine formulations.

Neuroscience

Novel Assay for Cold Nociception in Drosophila Larvae

Heather N. Turner^1,2,5, Christian Landry³, Michael J. Galko^1,2,4

¹Department of Genetics, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, ²Neuroscience Program, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston, ³ProDev Engineering, ⁴Genes and Development Program, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston, ⁵Section of Neurobiology, University of Southern California

Here we demonstrate a novel assay to study cold nociception in Drosophila larvae. This assay utilizes a custom-built Peltier probe capable of applying a focal noxious cold stimulus and results in quantifiable cold-specific behaviors. This technique will allow further cellular and molecular dissection of cold nociception.

Isolation of Myeloid-derived Suppressor Cells from Mouse Tumor and Determining Their Migration Potential In Vitro

Sharmistha Sarkar¹

¹Department of Genomic Medicine, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center

This article outlines the procedures to isolate myeloid-derived suppressor cells from mouse solid tumors and perform an in vitro assay with the cells to determine their response migration potential to certain soluble factors like cytokines and chemokines.

Behavior

An Improved Assay and Tools for Measuring Mechanical Nociception in Drosophila Larvae

Roger Lopez-Bellido¹, Michael J. Galko^1,2,3

¹Department of Genetics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, ²Neuroscience Graduate Program, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, ³Genetics and Epigenetics Graduate Program, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

The goal of this protocol is to show how to perform an improved assay for mechanical nociception in Drosophila larvae. We use the assay here to demonstrate that mechanical hypersensitivity (allodynia and hyperalgesia) exists in Drosophila larvae.