Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine

4 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Medicine

Adapted Resistance Training Improves Strength in Eight Weeks in Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis

Jennifer L. Keller¹, Nora Fritz^1,2, Chen Chun Chiang¹, Allen Jiang¹, Tziporah Thompson³, Nicole Cornet¹, Scott D. Newsome⁴, Peter A. Calabresi⁴, Kathleen Zackowski^1,2,4

¹Motion Analysis Laboratory, Kennedy Krieger Institute, ²Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, ³Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, ⁴Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Hip weakness is a common symptom affecting walking ability in people with multiple sclerosis. Isolated muscle strengthening is a useful method to target specific weaknesses. This protocol describes a progressive resistance-training program using exercise bands to increase hip muscle strength.

Developmental Biology

Preparation of Rat Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cultures and Quantification of Oligodendrogenesis Using Dual-infrared Fluorescence Scanning

Jason T. Schott^*1, Leslie A. Kirby^*1, Peter A. Calabresi¹, Emily G. Baxi¹

¹Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine

Oligodendrocytes are the myelinating cells of the central nervous system. This protocol describes a method for the isolation and culture of their precursors, oligodendrocyte progenitor cells, from rat cortices, as well as a fast and reliable quantitative method to evaluate oligodendrogenesis in vitro in response to experimental factors.

Cancer Research

Flow Cytometry-based Drug Screening System for the Identification of Small Molecules That Promote Cellular Differentiation of Glioblastoma Stem Cells

Raffaella Spina¹, Dillon M. Voss¹, Laura Asnaghi², Andrew Sloan^1,3, Eli E. Bar¹

¹Department of Neurological Surgery, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, ²Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, ³Department of Neurological Surgery, University Hospital-Case Medical Center, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

An efficient screening protocol is presented for the identification of small molecules that promote astroglial differentiation in glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs). The assay is based on a stem cell differentiation reporter whereby the expression of the enhanced GFP (eGFP) is driven by the human GFAP promoter.

Neuroscience

Localization of the Locus Coeruleus in the Mouse Brain

Katharina Schmidt¹, Bilal Bari², Martina Ralle³, Clorissa Washington-Hughes¹, Abigael Muchenditsi¹, Evan Maxey⁴, Svetlana Lutsenko¹

¹Department of Physiology, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, ²Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University, ³Department of Molecular and Medical Genetics, OHSU, ⁴X-ray science division, Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory

The locus coeruleus is a small cluster of neurons involved in a variety of physiological processes. Here, we describe a protocol to prepare mouse brain sections for studies of proteins and metals in this nucleus.