Trinity College

4 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Behavior

Long-term Potentiation of Perforant Pathway-dentate Gyrus Synapse in Freely Behaving Mice

¹Department of Engineering and Neuroscience Program, Trinity College

Transgenic and knockout mouse models of neurological diseases are useful for studying the role of genes in normal and abnormal neurophysiology. This article describes methodologies which can be used to study long-term potentiation, a cellular mechanism which may underlie learning and memory, in transgenic and knockout freely behaving mouse models of neuropathology.

Behavior

Inchworming: A Novel Motor Stereotypy in the BTBR T⁺ Itpr3^tf/J Mouse Model of Autism

Jacklyn D. Smith¹, Jong M. Rho¹, Susan A. Masino², Richelle Mychasiuk¹

¹Departments of Paediatrics and Clinical Neurosciences, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine, ²Department of Psychology, Neuroscience Program, Trinity College

Inchworming is a highly repetitive synchronous digging motion displayed by BTBR T⁺ Itpr^3tf/J (BTBR) mice when placed in a testing cage with sufficient sawdust bedding. The procedure is a modification of the juvenile social interaction protocol and is used here to assess repetitive motor stereotypies relevant to Autism Spectrum Disorder.

JoVE Journal

Separation of Aldehydes and Reactive Ketones from Mixtures Using a Bisulfite Extraction Protocol

Maxwell H. Furigay¹, Maria M. Boucher¹, Nikola A. Mizgier¹, Cheyenne S. Brindle¹

¹Department of Chemistry, Trinity College

Here, we present a protocol to remove aldehydes and reactive ketones from mixtures by a liquid-liquid extraction protocol directly with saturated sodium bisulfite in a miscible solvent. This combined protocol is rapid and facile to perform. The aldehyde or ketone can be re-isolated by the basification of the aqueous layer.

Biochemistry

Measuring Nucleotide Binding to Intact, Functional Membrane Proteins in Real Time

Samuel G. Usher¹, Frances M. Ashcroft¹, Michael C. Puljung^1,2

¹Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, ²Department of Chemistry and Neuroscience Program, Trinity College

This protocol presents a method for measuring adenine nucleotide binding to receptors in real time in a cellular environment. Binding is measured as Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) between trinitrophenyl nucleotide derivatives and protein labeled with a non-canonical, fluorescent amino acid.