National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Direct intranuclear injection of cDNA is an effective transfection technique for post-mitotic cells. This method provides high levels of heterologous protein expression from single or multiple cDNA constructs and enables protein function to be studied in a physiologically relevant environment with a variety of single cell assays.

We provide a reproducible method for culturing confluent monolayers of human fetal retinal pigment epithelial cells (hfRPE) cells that exhibit morphology, physiology, polarity, and protein and gene expression patterns of adult native tissue. This work has been extended to an animal model of several eye diseases.

This article describes how to record amygdala activity with magnetoencephalography (MEG). In addition this article will describe how to conduct trace fear conditioning without awareness, a task that activates the amygdala. It will cover 3 topics: 1) Designing a trace conditioning paradigm using backward masking to manipulate awareness. 2) Recording brain activity during the task using magnetoencephalography. 3) Using source imaging to recover signal from subcortical structures.

Although researchers are generally knowledgeable about procedures and safety precautions required for biosafety level 1 or 2 (BSL-1/2) experiments, they may not be familiar with experimental procedures in BSL-4 suit laboratories. This article provides a detailed visual demonstration of BSL-4 suit laboratory systems check, laboratory entry, movement, and exit procedures.

Performing viral assays in a BSL-4 laboratory is more involved compared to work in a BSL-2 laboratory due to required additional safety precautions. Here, we present an overview of practices and procedures used inside a BSL-4 laboratory illustrating proper Class II biosafety cabinet usage, waste management/disposal, and sample removal.

Here, we present an overview of the preparation and animal handling procedures required to safely perform medical imaging in an animal biosafety level 4 laboratory. Computed tomography of a mock-infected guinea pig illustrates these procedures that may be used to evaluate the disease caused by a high consequence pathogen.

As high-consequence pathogens can potentially infect subjects through airborne particles, aerobiology has been increasingly applied in pathogenesis research and medical countermeasure development. We present a detailed visual demonstration of aerobiology procedures during an aerosol challenge in nonhuman primates in an animal biosafety level 4 maximum containment environment.

Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) replacement strategies and gene-based therapy are considered for several retinal degenerative conditions. For clinical translation, large eye animal models are required to study surgical techniques applicable in patients. Here we present a rabbit model for subretinal surgery geared towards RPE transplantation, which is versatile and cost-efficient.

Here, we show how to analyze dendritic routing of Drosophila medulla neurons in columns and layers. The workflow includes a dual-view imaging technique to improve the image quality and computational tools for tracing, registering dendritic arbors to the reference column array and for analyzing the dendritic structures in 3D space.

This protocol demonstrates how to measure anxiety-potentiated startle during the Sternberg Working Memory paradigm.

We present three new methods to study gustatory coding. Using a simple animal, the moth Manduca sexta (Manduca), we describe a dissection protocol, the use of extracellular tetrodes to record the activity of multiple gustatory receptor neurons, and a system for delivering and monitoring precisely timed pulses of tastants.

The precise identification of satellite cells is essential for studying their functions under various physiological and pathological conditions. This article presents a protocol to identify satellite cells on adult skeletal muscle sections by immunofluorescence-based staining.

We present a method for analyzing the 4-hydroxy-tamoxifen-dependent estrogen receptor alpha ligand-binding domain dimerization activity using the mammalian two-hybrid assay.

We provide protocols for evaluation of mesenchymal stem cells isolated from dental pulp and prostate cancer cell interactions based on direct and indirect co-culture methods. Condition medium and trans-well membranes are suitable to analyze indirect paracrine activity. Seeding differentially stained cells together is an appropriate model for direct cell-cell interaction.

It is often necessary to assess the potential cytotoxicity of a set of compounds on cultured cells. Here, we describe a strategy to reliably screen for toxic compounds in a 96-well format.

Here, we present a method for recording light-evoked electrical responses of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) in mice using a technique known as DC-ERGs first described by Marmorstein, Peachey, and colleagues in the early 2000s.

The precise identification of fibro-adipogenic progenitor cells (FAPs) and muscle stem cells (MuSCs) is critical to studying their biological function in physiological and pathological conditions. This protocol provides guidelines for the isolation, purification, and culture of FAPs and MuSCs from adult mouse muscles.

We describe a method to efficiently separate retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) from the retina in human eyes and generate whole RPE/choroid flatmounts for histological and morphometric analyses of the RPE.

Degenerative eye diseases that affect the retinal pigment epithelium layer of the eye have monogenic and polygenic origins. Several disease models and a software application, LipidUNet, have been developed to study mechanisms of disease, as well as potential therapeutic interventions.

We present an automated high-throughput method to quantify neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) utilizing the live cell analysis system, coupled with a membrane permeability-dependent dual-dye approach.