Harvard University

7 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Biology

PuraMatrix Encapsulation of Cancer Cells

Adnan O. Abu-Yousif¹, Imran Rizvi^1,2, Conor L. Evans¹, Jonathan P. Celli¹, Tayyaba Hasan^1,3

¹Wellman Center for Photomedicine Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, ²Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, ³Department of Dermatology, Harvard Medical School

This video demonstrates how to encapsulate and culture cancer cells in PuraMatrix, a commercially available self assembling peptide gel.

Biology

Hi-C: A Method to Study the Three-dimensional Architecture of Genomes.

Nynke L. van Berkum^*1, Erez Lieberman-Aiden^*2,3,4,5, Louise Williams^*2, Maxim Imakaev⁶, Andreas Gnirke², Leonid A. Mirny^3,6, Job Dekker¹, Eric S. Lander^2,7,8

¹Program in Gene Function and Expression, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, ²Broad Institute of Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, ³Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, ⁴Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Department of Mathematics, Harvard University , ⁵Department of Applied Mathematics, Harvard University , ⁶Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, ⁷Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, ⁸Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Hi-C method allows unbiased, genome-wide identification of chromatin interactions (1). Hi-C couples proximity ligation and massively parallel sequencing. The resulting data can be used to study genomic architecture at multiple scales: initial results identified features such as chromosome territories, segregation of open and closed chromatin, and chromatin structure at the megabase scale.

Bioengineering

Video-rate Scanning Confocal Microscopy and Microendoscopy

Alexander J. Nichols^1,2,3, Conor L. Evans^1,3

¹Program in Biophysics, Harvard University , ²Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Harvard-MIT, ³Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School

The complete construction of a custom, real-time confocal scanning imaging system is described. This system, which can be readily used for video-rate microscopy and microendoscopy, allows for an array of imaging geometries and applications not accessible using standard commercial confocal systems, at a fraction of the cost.

Biology

Vampiric Isolation of Extracellular Fluid from Caenorhabditis elegans

Stephen A. Banse¹, Craig P. Hunter¹

¹Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University

The model organism C. elegans uses pseudocoelomic fluid as a passive circulatory system. Direct assay of this fluid has not been previously possible. Here we present a novel technique to directly assay the extracellular space, and use systemic silencing signals during an RNAi response as a proof of principle example.

Neuroscience

Design and Assembly of an Ultra-light Motorized Microdrive for Chronic Neural Recordings in Small Animals

Timothy M. Otchy^1,2, Bence P. Ӧlveczky^1,3

¹Center for Brain Science, Harvard University , ²Program in Neuroscience, Harvard University , ³Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University

The design, fabrication and assembly of an ultra-light motorized microdrive is described. The device provides a cost-effective and easy-to-use solution for chronic recordings of single units in small behaving animals.

Engineering

A Method to Fabricate Disconnected Silver Nanostructures in 3D

Kevin Vora¹, SeungYeon Kang¹, Eric Mazur^1,2

¹School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University , ²Department of Physics, Harvard University

Femtosecond-laser direct-writing is frequently used to create three-dimensional (3D) patterns in polymers and glasses. However, patterning metals in 3D remains a challenge. We describe a method for fabricating silver nanostructures embedded inside a polymer matrix using a femtosecond laser centered at 800 nm.

Medicine

Visualizing and Quantifying Pharmaceutical Compounds within Skin using Coherent Raman Scattering Imaging

Benjamin A. Kuzma¹, Isaac J. Pence¹, Alexander Ho¹, Conor L. Evans¹

¹Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School

A coherent Raman scattering imaging methodology to visualize and quantify pharmaceutical compounds within the skin is described. This paper describes skin tissue preparation (human and mouse) and topical formulation application, image acquisition to quantify spatiotemporal concentration profiles, and preliminary pharmacokinetic analysis to assess topical drug delivery.