Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA)

4 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Immunology and Infection

Intravital Microscopy of the Spleen: Quantitative Analysis of Parasite Mobility and Blood Flow

Mireia Ferrer^*1, Lorena Martin-Jaular^*1, Maria Calvo², Hernando A. del Portillo^1,3

¹Department of poverty related diseases, Barcelona Centre for International Health Research, ²Confocal Microscopy Unit, University of Barcelona- Scientific and Technological Centers, ³Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA)

We show the method for performing intravital microscopy of the spleen using GFP transgenic malaria parasites and the quantification of parasite mobility and blood flow within this organ.

Bioengineering

Dendrimer-based Uneven Nanopatterns to Locally Control Surface Adhesiveness: A Method to Direct Chondrogenic Differentiation

Ignasi Casanellas^1,2, Anna Lagunas^3,1, Iro Tsintzou¹, Yolanda Vida^4,5, Daniel Collado^4,5, Ezequiel Pérez-Inestrosa^4,5, Cristina Rodríguez-Pereira⁶, Joana Magalhaes^3,6, Pau Gorostiza^1,3,7, José A. Andrades^8,3, José Becerra^8,3,5, Josep Samitier^1,3,2

¹Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), ²Department of Engineering Electronics, University of Barcelona (UB), ³Networking Biomedical Research Center (CIBER), ⁴Instituto de Investigacin Biomédica de Málaga (IBIMA), Department of Organic Chemistry, Universidad de Málaga (UMA), ⁵Andalusian Centre for Nanomedicine and Biotechnology-BIONAND, ⁶Unidad de Bioingeniería Tisular y Terapia Celular (GBTTC-CHUAC), Grupo de Reumatolog ía, Instituto de Investigación Biomèdica de A Coruña (INIBIC), Complexo Hospitalario Universitario de A Coruña (CHUAC), Sergas, Universidade da Coruña (UDC), ⁷Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), ⁸Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Málaga (IBIMA), Department of Cell Biology, Genetics and Physiology, Universidad de Málaga (UMA)

A method to obtain dendrimer-based uneven nanopatterns that permit the nanoscale control of local arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) surface density is described and applied for the study of cell adhesion and chondrogenic differentiation.

Neuroscience

Calcium Imaging In Electrically Stimulated Flat-Mounted Retinas

Marina Cunquero¹, Maria Marsal¹, Gustavo Castro-Olvera¹, Steven T. Walston², F. Taygun Duvan², José Gabriel Macias-Montero³, Carles Puigdengoles³, Mokhtar Chmeissani³, Jose A. Garrido^2,4, Pablo Loza-Alvarez¹

¹Institut de Ciències Fotòniques (ICFO), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, ²Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and BIST, Campus UAB, ³Institut de Física d'Altes Energies (IFAE), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Campus UAB, ⁴Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA)

Retinal prostheses have the ability to generate visual perceptions. To advance the development of new prostheses, ex vivo methods are needed to test devices before implantation. This article provides a comprehensive protocol for studying calcium activity in the retinal ganglion cell layer when subjected to electrical stimulation.

Medicine

Non-Invasive Monitoring of Microvascular Oxygenation and Reactive Hyperemia using Hybrid, Near-Infrared Diffuse Optical Spectroscopy for Critical Care

M. Atif Yaqub^*1, Marta Zanoletti^*1, Lorenzo Cortese¹, Daniel Senciales Sánchez¹, Caterina Amendola², Lorenzo Frabasile², Umut Karadeniz¹, Jacqueline Martinez Garcia¹, Marta Martin¹, Jordi Cortes-Picas¹, Alba Caballer³, Edgar Cortes³, Sara Nogales³, Alberto Tosi⁴, Talyta Carteano⁵, Diego Sanoja Garcia⁵, Jakub Tomanik⁶, Tessa Wagenaar⁶, Hsiao Mui⁶, Claudia Nunzia Guadagno⁷, Shahrzad Parsa⁸, Sanathana Konugolu Venkata Sekar⁷, Luc Demarteau⁶, Tijl Houtbeckers⁶, Udo M. Weigel⁸, Michele Lacerenza⁹, Mauro Buttafava⁹, Alessandro Torricelli^2,10, Davide Contini², Jaume Mesquida³, Turgut Durduran^1,11

¹ICFO - Institut de Ciències Fotòniques, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, ²Dipartimento di Fisica, Politecnico di Milano, ³Critical Care Department, Parc Taulí Hospital Universitari, ⁴Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, Politecnico di Milano, ⁵ASPHALION s.l., ⁶Splendo, ⁷BioPixS-Biophotonics Standards, IPIC, Tyndall National Institute, ⁸Hemophotonics s.l., ⁹PIONIRS s.r.l., ¹⁰Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie, ¹¹Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA)

We describe a protocol to non-invasively and continuously measure absolute microvascular blood flow index and blood oxygen saturation using a multi-modal device based on near-infrared diffuse optics. We then evaluate the metabolic rate of oxygen consumption and reactive hyperemia utilizing a vascular occlusion test.