University of British Columbia

Visual analytics (VA) is a new approach of analyzing data interactively. In this video, we discuss the data overload problem brought on by high-throughput biological experiments, and propose VA as a solution to such problem. The video demonstrates analysis within and between immunological datasets using a VA tool called Tableau.

Method for the enzymatic dissociation, surface labeling and purification by flow cytometry of fibro/adipogenic and myogenic progenitors from murine skeletal muscle.

Trichuris muris infection is an intestinal model of Th2 immunity where resistant mice generate a protective Th2 response and susceptible mice generate a pathological Th1 response.

The Morris Water Maze is a behavioral task to test hippocampal-dependent learning and memory. It has been widely used in the study of neurobiology, neuropharmacology and neurocognitive disorders in rodent models.

The established technique to inoculate primary invasive orthotopic bladder cancer xenografts requires laparotomy and mobilization of the bladder. This procedure inflicts significant morbidity on the mice, is technically challenging and time-consuming. We therefore developed a high-precision, percutaneous approach utilizing ultrasound guidance.

The ability to assess executive functions such as behavioral flexibility in rats is useful for investigating the neurobiology of cognition in both intact animals and disease models. Here we describe automated tasks for assessing strategy shifting and reversal learning, which are particularly sensitive to disruptions in prefrontal cortical networks.

Measuring the barrier to the interspecies transmission of prion diseases is challenging and typically involves animal challenges or biochemical assays. Here, we present an in vitro prion protein conversion assay with the ability to predict species barriers.

We describe a protocol whereby busulfan conditioning permits the bone marrow of a recipient mouse to be replaced with bone marrow cells from donor mice ubiquitously expressing green fluorescent protein, in the absence of irradiation. This technique is useful to study bone marrow cell accumulation in the central nervous system.

Two experimental devices for examining liquid jet impingement on a high-speed moving surface are described: an air cannon device and a spinning disk device. The apparatuses are used to determine optimal approaches to the application of liquid friction modifier (LFM) onto rail tracks for top-of-rail friction control.

Transfection into the macrophage cell line, RAW264.7, is difficult due to the cell’s natural response against foreign materials. We described here a gentle yet robust procedure for transfecting luciferase reporter genes into RAW264.7 cells.

Currently, most available calcium indicators are used to quantify cytoplasmic calcium transients as indirect measures of calcium released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum in cultured smooth muscle cells. This protocol describes the use of a specific FRET-based indicator that allows direct measurement of calcium signals within the sarcoplasmic reticulum lumen.

Bone marrow cells cultured with granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) generate a heterogeneous culture containing macrophages and dendritic cells (DCs). This method highlights using MHCII and hyaluronan (HA) binding to differentiate macrophages from the DCs in the GM-CSF culture. Macrophages in this culture have many similarities to alveolar macrophages.

An experimental protocol for instrumented warm rotary forming of cast aluminum alloys employing a bespoke industrially scaled apparatus is presented. Experimental considerations including thermal and mechanical effects are discussed, as well as similitude with full-scale processing of automotive wheels.

The article shows how to use the program SpikeSorter to detect and sort spikes in extracellular recordings made with multi-electrode arrays.

We have developed a modular high-throughput screening system for discovering novel compounds against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, targeting intracellular and in-broth growing bacteria as well as cytotoxicity against the mammalian host cell.

This video and manuscript describe an emulsion-based method to encapsulate mammalian cells in 0.5% to 10% alginate beads which can be produced in large batches using a simple stirred vessel. The encapsulated cells can be cultured in vitro or transplanted for cellular therapy applications.

Two biotinylation-based methods, designed for determining the cell-surface expression and endocytic rate of proteins expressed at the plasma membrane, are presented in this report.

We present a modified native chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) methodology for the generation of sequence datasets suitable for a nucleosome density ChIP-seq analytical framework integrating micrococcal nuclease (MNase) accessibility with histone modification measurements.

The goal of this article is to provide a detailed description of the protocol for the pulmonary metastasis assay (PuMA). This model permits researchers to study metastatic osteosarcoma (OS) cell growth in lung tissue using a widefield fluorescence or confocal laser-scanning microscope.

A novel technique for rapid antigen display on a bacterial surface is presented, which involves surface biotinylation followed by exposure to proteins of interest in fusion with monomeric avidin. Loading BCG with selected antigens successfully improves its immunogenicity, suggesting that surface decoration can replace traditional genetic approaches.

Antibody-based drugs have revolutionized treatment for inflammatory diseases. In addition to having direct effects on specific targets, antibodies can activate macrophages to become anti-inflammatory. This protocol describes how anti-inflammatory macrophage activation can be assessed in vitro, using mouse bone marrow macrophages, and in vivo, using peritoneal macrophages.

Platelet inventory management based on screening microparticle content in platelet concentrates is a new quality improvement initiative in hospital blood banks. The goal is to differentiate activated from non-activated platelets to optimize the use of platelets. Providing non-activated platelets to hematology-oncology patients might reduce their high risk to become refractory.

We present a protocol for using STED microscopy to simultaneously image actin structures, microtubules, and microtubule plus-end binding proteins in B cells that have spread on coverslips coated with antibodies to the B-cell receptor, a model for the initial phase of immune synapse formation.

This protocol provides the necessary steps to establish and evaluate neonatal sepsis in 7-day-old mice.

This study details the process of gavaging precise amounts of probiotics to neonatal mice. The experimental set-up was optimized to include but is not limited to probiotic dosing, methods of administration, and quantification of bacteria in the intestines.

This protocol describes a mouse model of Salmonella driven intestinal fibrosis that resembles key pathological hallmarks of Crohn’s disease including transmural inflammation and fibrosis. This method can be used to evaluate host factors that alter fibrotic outcomes using mutant mice maintained on a C57Bl/6 genetic background.

We present a method that combines membrane protein purification and reconstitution into peptidiscs in a single chromatographic step. Biotinylated scaffolds are used for direct surface attachment and measurement of protein-ligand interactions via biolayer interferometry.

This streamlined protocol details a workflow to detect and image bacteria in complex tissue samples, from fixing the tissue to staining microbes with fluorescent in situ hybridization.

Presented here is a protocol for a capillary electrophoresis-based hydrogen/deuterium exchange (HDX) approach coupled with top-down mass spectrometry. This approach characterizes the difference in higher-order structures between different protein species, including proteins in different states and different proteoforms, by conducting concurrent differential HDX and electrophoretic separation.

Here, a high-throughput protocol is presented to measure growth data, including growth curves, growth rate, and maximum growth rate. The protocol was verified and validated using two biofilm-producing bacteria. The results and approach applied in this study can be expanded to other high-throughput protocols using microplate readers.

Here, it is demonstrated how an awake closed-head injury model can be used for examining the effects of repeated mild traumatic brain injury (r-mTBI) on synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus. The model replicates important features of r-mTBI in patients and is used in conjunction with in vitro electrophysiology.

This protocol describes the generation of self-organizing blood vessels from human pluripotent and induced pluripotent stem cells. These blood vessel networks exhibit an extensive and connected endothelial network surrounded by pericytes, smooth muscle actin, and a continuous basement membrane.

Complex genetic circuits are time-consuming to design, test, and optimize. To facilitate this process, mammalian cells are transfected in a way that allows the testing of multiple stoichiometries of circuit components in a single well. This protocol outlines the steps for experimental planning, transfection, and data analysis.

The differentiation of stem cells into islet cells provides an alternative solution to conventional diabetes treatment and disease modeling. We describe a detailed stem cell culture protocol that combines a commercial differentiation kit with a previously validated method to aid in producing insulin-secreting, stem cell-derived islets in a dish.

This work describes a protocol for the quantification of global histone modifications using intranuclear flow cytometry in isolated brain microglia. The work also contains the microglia isolation protocol that was used for data collection.

This manuscript presents a comprehensive protocol to evaluate the three-dimensional (3D) movement of maxillary posterior teeth with clear aligners using digital model superimposition, an invaluable tool in orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics.

The present protocol describes a method for reverse poly-transfection of mouse embryonic stem cells during culture with 2i and LIF media. This method yields higher viability and efficiency than traditional forward transfection protocols, while also enabling one-pot optimization of plasmid ratios.

Bacteriophages (phages), viruses that infect bacteria, are an integral component of the gut microbiome. Though these symbiotic inhabitants drive bacterial fitness and population dynamics, little is understood about how they impact gut homeostasis and disease. This protocol studies isolated T4 phages within a mouse model, adaptable to other phage-bacterial pairs.

A process of registering cone-beam computed tomography scans and digital dental images has been presented using artificial intelligence (AI) -assisted identification of landmarks and merging. A comparison with surface-based registration shows that AI-based digitization and integration are reliable and reproducible.

CT and ¹²⁹Xe MRI provide complementary lung structure-function information that can be exploited for regional analysis using image registration. Here, we provide a protocol that builds from the existing literature for ¹²⁹Xe MR to CT image registration using open-source platforms.

This protocol outlines the isolation of skeletal and cardiac muscle fibro-adipogenic progenitors (FAPs) from spiny mouse (Acomys) via enzymatic dissociation and fluorescence-activated cell sorting. The FAPs obtained from this protocol can be effectively expanded and differentiated to myofibroblasts and adipocytes.

This protocol describes the method for reducing dietary intake of folic acid or choline in female mice prior to pregnancy with the objective of investigating the impact of maternal diet on offspring health outcomes.

This article features a simple evaporation experiment using a hydraulic property instrument for a soil sample. Through efficient means, measurements can be taken over a series of days to generate high-quality data.

This protocol details a surgical procedure for performing spinal cord surgery and for implanting and securing an optical shank over the spinal cord in rodents.