Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention

2 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Neuroscience

A Simplified Method for Ultra-Low Density, Long-Term Primary Hippocampal Neuron Culture

Zhongming Lu^*1,2, Mariel Piechowicz^*1, Shenfeng Qiu¹

¹Department of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix, ²Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Low density cultures of primary hippocampal neurons usually require glia feeder layer to supply neurotrophic factors and sustain longevity. We describe here a simplified method to culture ultra-low density neurons on glass coverslips in the presence of a high density neuronal feeder layer, which facilitates investigation of specific neuronal-autonomous mechanisms.

Developmental Biology

Using Alizarin Red Staining to Detect Chemically Induced Bone Loss in Zebrafish Larvae

Jie Ding^*1, Rui Yan^*1, Luna Wang¹, Qianlei Yang¹, Xiaoyun Zhang¹, Nan Jing¹, Yuanjie Wei¹, Hengdong Zhang^2,3, Yan An¹

¹Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Preventive and Translational Medicine for Geriatric Diseases, Medical College of Soochow University, ²Department of Occupational Disease Prevention, Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, ³Jiangsu Preventive Medicine Association, Nanjing, China

Here, we have used alizarin red staining to show that lead acetate exposure causes a bone mass change in zebrafish larvae. This staining method can be adapted to the investigation of bone loss in zebrafish larvae loss induced by other hazardous toxicants.