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20 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

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Biology

Generation of Stable Transgenic C. elegans Using Microinjection
Laura A. Berkowitz 1, Adam L. Knight 1, Guy A. Caldwell 1, Kim A. Caldwell 1
1Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alabama

This video demonstrates the technique of microinjection into the gonad of C. elegans to create transgenic animals.

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Biology

Application of a C. elegans Dopamine Neuron Degeneration Assay for the Validation of Potential Parkinson's Disease Genes
Laura A. Berkowitz 1, Shusei Hamamichi 1, Adam L. Knight 1, Adam J. Harrington 1, Guy A. Caldwell 1, Kim A. Caldwell 1
1Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alabama

This video demonstrates how to use C. elegans to assess dopaminergic neuron neurodegeneration as a model for Parkinson's disease. Furthermore, genetic screens are used to identify factors that either enhance degeneration or are neuroprotective.

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Biology

Paradigms for Pharmacological Characterization of C. elegans Synaptic Transmission Mutants
Cody Locke 1, Kalen Berry 1, Bwarenaba Kautu 1, Kyle Lee 1, Kim Caldwell 1, Guy Caldwell 1
1Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alabama

This video demonstrates how to employ two neural stimulants, aldicarb and pentylenetetrazole (PTZ), in complementary ways to study synaptic function in the nematode, C. elegans. This complementary approach may also be used to shed light on evolutionarily conserved mechanisms for modulating neuronal synchrony and has implications for epilepsy and seizures.

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Biology

Drosophila Pupal Abdomen Immunohistochemistry
Wei Wang 1, John H. Yoder 1
1Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alabama

Antibody staining of the Drosophila pupae can enhance genetic analyses of adult abdominal developmental genetics. We present our protocol for dissection, fixation and antibody staining of staged Drosophila pupal abdomen.

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Medicine

Imaging Glioma Initiation In Vivo Through a Polished and Reinforced Thin-skull Cranial Window
Lifeng Zhang *1, Andree Lapierre *1, Brittany Roy 1, Maili Lim 1, Jennifer Zhu 1, Wei Wang 1, Stephen B. Sampson 1, Kyuson Yun 1, Bonnie Lyons 1, Yun Li 1, Da-Ting Lin 1
1The Jackson Laboratory

By combining a polished and reinforced thin-skull (PoRTS) cranial window and glioblastoma (GBM) cell injection, we can observe glioma initiation and growth from injected GBM cells in the brain of a live mouse longitudinally.

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Neuroscience

Imaging pHluorin-tagged Receptor Insertion to the Plasma Membrane in Primary Cultured Mouse Neurons
Yun Li 1, Brittany D. Roy 1, Wei Wang 1, Lifeng Zhang 1, Stephen B. Sampson 1, Da-Ting Lin 1
1The Jackson Laboratory

By tagging the extracellular domains of membrane receptors with superecliptic pHluorin, and by imaging these fusion receptors in cultured mouse neurons, we can directly visualize individual vesicular insertion events of the receptors to the plasma membrane. This technique will be instrumental in elucidating the molecular mechanisms governing receptor insertion to the plasma membrane.

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Immunology and Infection

Novel Whole-tissue Quantitative Assay of Nitric Oxide Levels in Drosophila Neuroinflammatory Response
Rami R. Ajjuri 1, Janis M. O'Donnell 1
1Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alabama

Levels of the inflammatory cell-signaling molecule nitric oxide (NO) are commonly assayed using Griess reagent. In this protocol, we have created a modified Griess assay utilizing live Drosophila brain tissue in order to detect the secretion of NO in a simple, quantifiable and highly repeatable method.

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Bioengineering

Characterization Of Multi-layered Fish Scales (Atractosteus spatula) Using Nanoindentation, X-ray CT, FTIR, and SEM
Paul G. Allison 1, Rogie I. Rodriguez 2, Robert D. Moser 1, Brett A. Williams 1, Aimee R. Poda 3, Jennifer M. Seiter 3, Brandon J. Lafferty 3, Alan J. Kennedy 3, Mei Q. Chandler 1
1Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, 2Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Alabama, 3Environmental Laboratory, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center

This paper presents the methods used for probing spatially correlated chemical, structural, and mechanical properties of the multilayered scale of Atractosteus spatula (A. spatula) using nanoindentation, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray computed tomography (X-ray CT). The experimental results have been used to investigate the design principles of protective biological materials.

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Chemistry

Facile and Efficient Preparation of Tri-component Fluorescent Glycopolymers via RAFT-controlled Polymerization
Wei Wang 1, John M. Lester 1, Anthony E. Amorosa 2, Deborah L. Chance 3, Valeri V. Mossine 1, Thomas P. Mawhinney 1,4
1Department of Biochemistry, University of Missouri, 2Department of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, 3Department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, University of Missouri, 4Department of Child Health, University of Missouri

An efficient, three-step synthesis of RAFT-based fluorescent glycopolymers, consisting of glycomonomer preparation, copolymerization, and post-modification, is demonstrated. This protocol can be used to prepare RAFT-based statistical glycopolymers with desired structures.

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Genetics

The TreadWheel: Interval Training Protocol for Gently Induced Exercise in Drosophila melanogaster
Kelsey E. Lowman 1, Brélahn J. Wyatt 1, Owen P. Cunneely 1, Laura K. Reed 1
1Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alabama

The TreadWheel uses rotational motion to gently induce exercise in adult Drosophila melanogaster by exploiting flies' innate, negative geotaxis. It allows for analysis of the interactions between exercise and factors, such as genotype, sex, and diet, and their effect on physiological and molecular assays to assess metabolic health.

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Medicine

A Metadata Extraction Approach for Clinical Case Reports to Enable Advanced Understanding of Biomedical Concepts
John Harry Caufield 1,2, David A. Liem 1,2,3, Anders O. Garlid 1,2, Yijiang Zhou 4, Karol Watson 1,3, Alex A. T. Bui 1,5,6,7, Wei Wang 1,7,8,9, Peipei Ping 1,2,3,7,8
1The NIH BD2K Center of Excellence in Biomedical Computing, University of California, Los Angeles, 2Department of Physiology, University of California, Los Angeles, 3Department of Medicine/Cardiology, University of California, Los Angeles, 4Department of Cardiology, First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, 5Department of Radiological Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, 6Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, 7Scalable Analytics Institute (ScAi), University of California, Los Angeles, 8Department of Bioinformatics, University of California, Los Angeles, 9Department of Computer Science, University of California, Los Angeles

We present a protocol and associated metadata template for the extraction of text describing biomedical concepts in clinical case reports. The structured text values produced through this protocol can support deep analysis of thousands of clinical narratives.

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Medicine

Cloud-Based Phrase Mining and Analysis of User-Defined Phrase-Category Association in Biomedical Publications
Dibakar Sigdel *1,2, Vincent Kyi *1,2, Aiden Zhang *1, Shaun P. Setty 3, David A. Liem 1,2,4, Yu Shi 5, Xuan Wang 5, Jiaming Shen 5, Wei Wang 1,6,7, JiaWei Han 5, Peipei Ping 1,2,4,6
1The NIH BD2K Center of Excellence in Biomedical Computing, University of California, Los Angeles, 2Department of Physiology, University of California, Los Angeles, 3Department of Pediatric and Adult Congenital Heart Surgery, Miller Children's and Women's Hospital and Long Beach Memorial Hospital, 4Department of Medicine/Cardiology, University of California, Los Angeles, 5NIH BD2K Program Centers of Excellence for Big Data Computing -- KnowEng Center, Department of Computer Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), 6Scalable Analytics Institute (ScAi), University of California, Los Angeles, 7Department of Computer Science, University of California, Los Angeles

We present a protocol and associated programming code as well as metadata samples to support a cloud-based automated identification of phrases-category association representing unique concepts in user selected knowledge domain in biomedical literature. The phrase-category association quantified by this protocol can facilitate in depth analysis in the selected knowledge domain.

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Medicine

Orthotopic Rat Kidney Transplantation: A Novel and Simplified Surgical Approach
Ali R. Ahmadi 1, Le Qi 1, Kenichi Iwasaki 1, Wei Wang 1, Russell N. Wesson 1, Andrew M. Cameron 1, Zhaoli Sun 1
1Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

The purpose of this manuscript and protocol is to explain and demonstrate in detail the surgical procedure of orthotopic kidney transplantation in rats. This method is simplified to achieve the correct perfusion of the donor kidney and shorten the reperfusion time by using the venous and ureteral cuff anastomosis technique.

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Environment

A Uniaxial Compression Experiment with CO2-Bearing Coal Using a Visualized and Constant-Volume Gas-Solid Coupling Test System
Weitao Hou 1, Hanpeng Wang 1, Wei Wang 1, Zhongzhong Liu 1, Qingchuan Li 1
1Research Center of Geotechnical and Structural Engineering, Shandong University

This protocol demonstrates how to prepare a briquette sample and conduct a uniaxial compression experiment with a briquette in different CO2 pressures using a visualized and constant-volume gas-solid coupling test system. It also aims to investigate changes in terms of coal’s physical and mechanical properties induced by CO2 adsorption.

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Genetics

In Vivo Forward Genetic Screen to Identify Novel Neuroprotective Genes in Drosophila melanogaster
Olivia Gevedon 1, Harris Bolus 1, Shu Hui Lye 1, Keaton Schmitz 1, Jesualdo Fuentes-González 1, Kathryn Hatchell 2, Lyndsey Bley 2, Jason Pienaar 1, Carin Loewen 2, Stanislava Chtarbanova 1
1Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alabama, 2Department of Genetics, University of Wisconsin-Madison

We present a protocol using a forward genetic approach to screen for mutants exhibiting neurodegeneration in Drosophila melanogaster. It incorporates a climbing assay, histology analysis, gene mapping and DNA sequencing to ultimately identify novel genes related to the process of neuroprotection.

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Environment

Atom Probe Tomography Analysis of Exsolved Mineral Phases
Kimberly Genareau 1, Alberto Perez-Huerta 1, Fernando Laiginhas 1
1Department of Geological Sciences, University of Alabama

Analysis of the morphology, composition, and spacing of exsolution lamellae can provide essential information to understand geological processes related to volcanism and metamorphism. We present a novel application of APT for the characterization of such lamellae and compare this approach to the conventional use of electron microscopy and FIB-based nanotomography.

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Medicine

Immunoglobulin G N-Glycan Analysis by Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography
Di Liu *1, Xizhu Xu *2, Yuejin Li 2, Jie Zhang 1, Xiaoyu Zhang 1, Qihuan Li 1, Haifeng Hou 2, Dong Li 2, Wei Wang 1,2,3, Youxin Wang 1
1Beijing Key Laboratory of Clinical Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Capital Medical University, 2School of Public Health, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, 3School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University

Immunoglobulin G (IgG) N-glycan is characterized using hydrophilic interaction chromatography UPLC. In addition, the structure of IgG N-glycan is clearly separated. Presented here is an introduction to this experimental method so that it can be widely used in research settings.

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Immunology and Infection

Neisseria meningitidis Infection of Induced Pluripotent Stem-Cell Derived Brain Endothelial Cells
Leo M. Endres 1, Sarah F. Hathcock 2, Alexandra Schubert-Unkmeir 1, Brandon J. Kim 1,2
1Institute for Hygiene and Microbiology, University of Würzburg, 2Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alabama

The protocol described here highlights the major steps in the differentiating induced pluripotent stem-cell derived brain-like endothelial cells, the preparation of Neisseria meningitidis for infection, and sample collection for other molecular analyses.

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Behavior

A Chronic Sleep Fragmentation Model using Vibrating Orbital Rotor to Induce Cognitive Deficit and Anxiety-Like Behavior in Young Wild-Type Mice
Yi Xie 1, Sai-Yue Deng 1, Si-Miao Chen 1, Xue-Jiao Chen 1, Wen-Wen Lai 1, Li-Fang Huang 1, Li Ba 1, Wei Wang 1,2, Feng-Fei Ding 1,3
1Department of Neurology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430000, China, 2Key Laboratory of Neurological Diseases of Chinese Ministry of Education, The School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430000,China, 3Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Science; State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Institutes of Brain Science and Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China

Presented here is a protocol for chronic sleep fragmentation (CSF) model achieved by an electrically controlled orbital rotor, which could induce confirmed cognitive deficit and anxiety-like behavior in young wild-type mice. This model can be applied to explore the pathogenesis of chronic sleep disturbance and related disorders.

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Neuroscience

Establishment of a Rat Model of Superior Sagittal-Sinus Occlusion via a Thread-Embolism Method
Weiyan Jiang *1, Congcong Jin *2, Weiming Xu *3, Yingxian Li 4, Yinghong Lin 5, Shengxiang Liang 6,7, Wei Wang 8
1Department of Clinical Laboratory, the Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children’s Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, 2Rehabilitation Department, Wenzhou Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, 3Department of Neurosurgery, the Hospital of Changle, 4Pediatrics Ward 2, Shouguang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 5Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 6National-Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Rehabilitation Medicine Technology, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 7Rehabilitation Industry Institute, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 8Department of Neurosurgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University

Here, we establish a novel Sprague-Dawley (SD) rat model of superior sagittal sinus (SSS) thrombosis via a thread-embolization method, and the stability and reliability of the model were verified.

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