Laval University

7 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Medicine

Mouse Model of Intraluminal MCAO: Cerebral Infarct Evaluation by Cresyl Violet Staining

Estelle Rousselet¹, Jasna Kriz², Nabil G. Seidah¹

¹Laboratory of Biochemical Neuroendocrinology, Clinical Research Institute of Montreal, ²CHUQ Research Centre, Laval University

The intraluminal middle cerebral occlusion model in mice is herein presented. The extent of cerebral infarct is evaluated by a neurologic score and cresyl violet staining, an alternative staining to TTC, offering the great advantage to test in parallel many interest markers.

Biology

Analysis of Translation Initiation During Stress Conditions by Polysome Profiling

Laëtitia Coudert^*1,2, Pauline Adjibade^*1,2, Rachid Mazroui^1,2

¹Department of Molecular Biology, Medical Biochemistry, and Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, ²CHU de Quebec Research Center

Here, we describe a method to analyze changes in the initiation of mRNA translation of eukaryotic cells in response to stress conditions. This method is based on the velocity separation on sucrose gradients of translating ribosomes from non-translating ribosomes.

Developmental Biology

Generation of Human Adipose Stem Cells through Dedifferentiation of Mature Adipocytes in Ceiling Cultures

Julie Lessard¹, Julie Anne Côté¹, Marc Lapointe¹, Mélissa Pelletier², Mélanie Nadeau¹, Simon Marceau¹, Laurent Biertho¹, André Tchernof^1,2,3

¹IUCPQ Research Center, ²CHU de Québec Research Center, ³Laval University

Mature adipocytes may represent an abundant source of stem cells through dedifferentiation, which leads to a homogenous population of fibroblast-like cells. Collagenase digestion is used to isolate mature adipocytes from human fat. The goal of our protocol is to obtain multipotent, dedifferentiated fat cells from human mature adipocytes.

JoVE Journal

Increasing Pulmonary Artery Pulsatile Flow Improves Hypoxic Pulmonary Hypertension in Piglets

Audrey Courboulin¹, Chantal Kang², Olivier Baillard^3,4,5, Sebastien Bonnet¹, Pierre Bonnet⁶

¹Department of Medicine, Pulmonary Hypertension Research Group (CRIUCPQ), Laval University, ²Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, ³Université Diderot Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité, ⁴Hôpital Lariboisière, Physiologie clinique Explorations Fonctionnelles, ⁵INSERM U 965, ⁶Service de Cardiologie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Tours

Pulmonary hypertension is associated with a significant reduction in pulmonary artery pulsatility, contractility and elasticity, contributing to an increase in pulmonary artery pressure and pulmonary resistance. Using a hypoxic piglet model, this study demonstrated that improving pulmonary artery plasticity using a newly developed pulsatile catheter improves hypoxic pulmonary hypertension.

Bioengineering

Engineering 3D Cellularized Collagen Gels for Vascular Tissue Regeneration

Sébastien Meghezi¹, Dawit G. Seifu^1,2, Nina Bono^1,3, Larry Unsworth^2,4,5, Kibret Mequanint⁶, Diego Mantovani^1,2

¹Laboratory for Biomaterials and Bioengineering, Department Min-Met-Materials Eng & CHU de Québec Research Center, Canada Research Chair I for the Innovation in Surgery, Laval University, ²NSERC CREATE Program for Regenerative Medicine (NCPRM), Laval University, ³Department Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, ⁴Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta, ⁵National Institute for Nanotechnology, National Research Council (Canada), ⁶Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, University of Western Ontario

In this work, we present a technique for the rapid fabrication of living vascular tissues by direct culturing of collagen, smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells. In addition, a new protocol for the mechanical characterization of engineered vascular tissues is described.

Neuroscience

Electrophysiology on Isolated Brainstem-spinal Cord Preparations from Newborn Rodents Allows Neural Respiratory Network Output Recording

Jean-Philippe Rousseau¹, Céline Caravagna¹

¹Department of Pediatrics, Laval University

The central respiratory drive is located in the brainstem. Spontaneous respiratory motor output from an isolated brainstem-spinal cord is recorded by placing an electrode on the fourth ventral root. This experimental approach is valuable for pharmacological investigations or the assessment of respiratory challenges and genetic manipulations on rhythmic motor behavior.

Medicine

Three-Dimensional Culture Assay to Explore Cancer Cell Invasiveness and Satellite Tumor Formation

Marie-France Côté¹, Audrey Turcotte^1,2, Charles Doillon^1,3, Stephane Gobeil^1,2

¹CHU de Québec Research Centre, ²Department of Molecular Medicine, Laval University, ³Department of Surgery, Laval University

Cancer cells are embedded in a collagen gel and then sandwiched in an acellular fibrin gel to generate a 3D culture system in which the invasiveness and formation of satellite tumors may be monitored.