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2 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Medicine

The Polyvinyl Alcohol Sponge Model Implantation

Desirae L. Deskins^1,2, Shidrokh Ardestani^1,2, Pampee P. Young^1,2,3

¹Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, ²The Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, ³Internal Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine

A useful tool to analyze the effects of drugs, growth factors, and/or manipulated cells in an animal model of wound repair is described. This technique utilizes the properties of a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) sponge to deliver and contain the desired treatment and also provide a platform to be excised and analyzed.

Biology

Isolation and Characterization of Adult Cardiac Fibroblasts and Myofibroblasts

Meiling Melzer¹, David Beier¹, Pampee P. Young^1,2, Sarika Saraswati¹

¹Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, ²American Red Cross, National Headquarters

Obtaining a pure population of fibroblasts is crucial to studying their role in wound repair and fibrosis. Described here is a detailed method to isolate fibroblasts and myofibroblasts from uninjured and injured mouse hearts followed by characterization of their purity and functionality by immunofluorescence, RTPCR, fluorescence-assisted cell sorting, and collagen gel contraction.