University of the Pacific

7 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Biology

Microdissection of Black Widow Spider Silk-producing Glands

Felicia Jeffery^*1, Coby La Mattina^*1, Tiffany Tuton-Blasingame^*1, Yang Hsia¹, Eric Gnesa¹, Liang Zhao¹, Andreas Franz¹, Craig Vierra¹

¹Department of Biological Sciences, University of the Pacific

Here we describe an efficient strategy to remove the silk-producing glands from the abdomen of female black widow spiders. This procedure allows the rapid isolation of the seven distinct silk-producing glands in a highly purified fashion, an important process for investigators studying spider silk production and fiber assembly.

Bioengineering

Synthetic Spider Silk Production on a Laboratory Scale

Yang Hsia¹, Eric Gnesa¹, Ryan Pacheco¹, Kristin Kohler¹, Felicia Jeffery¹, Craig Vierra¹

¹Department of Biological Sciences, University of the Pacific

Despite the outstanding mechanical and biochemical properties of spider silks, this material cannot be harvested in large quantities by conventional means. Here we describe an efficient strategy to spin artificial spider silk fibers, which is an important process for investigators studying spider silk production and their use as next-generation biomaterials.

Chemistry

Determination of the Gas-phase Acidities of Oligopeptides

Jianhua Ren¹, Ashish Sawhney¹, Yuan Tian¹, Bhupinder Padda¹, Patrick Batoon¹

¹Department of Chemistry, University of the Pacific

The determination of the gas-phase acidities of cysteine-containing oligopeptides is described. The experiments are performed using a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. The relative acidities of the peptides are measured using collision-induced dissociation experiments, and the quantitative acidities are determined using the extended Cooks kinetic method.

Behavior

Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations

Gabriella Musacchia^1,2,3, Silvia Ortiz-Mantilla¹, Teresa Realpe-Bonilla¹, Cynthia P. Roesler¹, April A. Benasich¹

¹Center for Molecular & Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers University, State University of New Jersey, Newark, ²Department of Audiology, University of the Pacific, ³Department of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, Stanford University

High-density electroencephalography (dEEG) is being used increasingly to study brain development and plasticity in the early years of life. Here we present an application of sophisticated analysis techniques that builds on traditional EEG recording to understand the oscillatory dynamics of rapid auditory processing in the infant brain.

Chemistry

Synthesis and Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Oligo-peptoids

Jianhua Ren¹, Yadwinder S. Mann¹, Yuntao Zhang¹, Michael D. Browne¹

¹Department of Chemistry, University of the Pacific

A protocol is described for the manual synthesis of oligo-peptoids followed by sequence analysis by mass spectrometry.

Medicine

Organ Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury by Simulating Hemodynamic Changes in Rat Liver Transplant Model

Yuan Yuan¹, Meng-hua Chen¹, Jing Huang², Yuan Tian², Ke Qin³, Zhang Yuan¹, Wen-yan Wang¹, Zhi-jiang Wu¹, Xin-yue Tian¹, Yubin Zhang⁴

¹Department of Intensive Care Unit, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, ²Department of hepatobiliary surgery, The Affiliated Ningbo Medical Center Lihuili Hospital of Medical School of Ningbo University, ³Department of transplantation, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, ⁴Digital Technology and Engineering college, Ningbo University of Finance & Economics

This paper provides a detailed description of how to build an animal model of the anhepatic phase (liver ischemia) in rats to facilitate basic research into ischemia-reperfusion injury after liver transplantation.

Cancer Research

Construction of An Orthotopic Xenograft Model of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Mimicking Disease Progression and Predicting Drug Activities

Zizhao Xu¹, Yingbo Huang¹, Yong Zhu¹, Xinyu Pei¹, Yifan Lu¹, Shen Zhao¹, Xin Guo¹

¹Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy, University of the Pacific

This study presents an orthotopic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) model based on intrapulmonary inoculation of multicellular spheroids of fluorescent A549-iRFP cells. The model recapitulates clinical NSCLC stages and responds to cisplatin, according to dynamic in vivo monitoring of long-wavelength fluorescence.