Vanderbilt University and Medical Center

4 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Biology

Harvesting and Preparing Drosophila Embryos for Electrophysiological Recording and Other Procedures

David E. Featherstone¹, Kaiyun Chen¹, Kendal Broadie²

¹Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois, ²Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University

This technique exposes the Drosophila embryonic neuromusculature for immunohistochemistry or electrophysiological recording. It is useful for studying early events in neuromuscular development or performing electrophysiology in mutants that cannot hatch.

Biology

Electrophysiological Recording in the Drosophila Embryo

Kaiyun Chen¹, David E. Featherstone¹, Kendal Broadie²

¹Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois, ²Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University

Electrophysiological recordings from Drosophila embryos allow analyses of developing muscle and neuron electrical properties, as well as characterization of functional synaptogenesis at the glutamatergic neuromuscular junction and central cholinergic and GABAergic synapses.

JoVE Journal

FM Dye Cycling at the Synapse: Comparing High Potassium Depolarization, Electrical and Channelrhodopsin Stimulation

Danielle L. Kopke¹, Kendal Broadie²

¹Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, ²Departments of Biological Sciences, Pharmacology, Cell and Developmental Biology, Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development, Vanderbilt University and Medical Center

Synaptic vesicle (SV) cycling is the core mechanism of intercellular communication at neuronal synapses. FM dye uptake and release are the primary means of quantitatively assaying SV endo- and exocytosis. Here, we compare all the stimulation methods to drive FM1-43 cycling at the Drosophila neuromuscular junction (NMJ) model synapse.

Neuroscience

Experience-Dependent Remodeling of Juvenile Brain Olfactory Sensory Neuron Synaptic Connectivity in an Early-Life Critical Period

Nichalas Nelson^*1, Vanessa Miller^*1, Nicholas Baumann¹, Kendal Broadie^1,2,3,4,5

¹Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University and Medical Center, ²Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University and Medical Center, ³Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University and Medical Center, ⁴Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development, Vanderbilt University and Medical Center, ⁵Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University and Medical Center

We describe here methods for inducing and analyzing olfactory experience-dependent remodeling of antennal lobe synaptic glomeruli in the Drosophila juvenile brain.