Stowers Institute for Medical Research

The vomeronasal organ (VNO) detects intraspecies chemical signals that convey social and reproductive information. We have performed Ca2+ imaging experiments using transgenic mice expressing G-CaMP2 in VNO tissue. This approach allows us to analyze the complicated response patterns of the vomeronasal neurons to large numbers of pheromone stimuli.

An effective method for grafting tissue of defined and consistent size between planaria is described. Also included is a description of how the immobilization technique used for transplantation can be adapted, in conjunction with lead shields, for the partial irradiation of live animals.

This protocol describes a procedure for generating and purifying wild type and mutant versions of the human INO80 chromatin remodeling complex. Epitope tagged versions of INO80 subunits are stably expressed in HEK293 cells, and complete complexes and complexes lacking specific sets of subunits are purified by immunoaffinity chromatography.

Here we describe biochemical assays that can be used to characterize ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling enzymes for their abilities to 1) catalyze ATP-dependent nucleosome sliding, 2) engage with nucleosome substrates, and 3) hydrolyze ATP in a nucleosome- or DNA-dependent manner.

In vitro fertilization is a commonly used technique with a variety of model organisms to maintain lab populations and produce synchronized embryos for downstream applications. Here, we present a protocol that implements this technique for different populations of the Mexican tetra fish, Astyanax mexicanus.

Here, we describe the assembly of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) elongation complexes requiring only short synthetic DNA and RNA oligonucleotides and purified Pol II. These complexes are useful for studying mechanisms underlying co-transcriptional processing of transcripts associated with the Pol II elongation complex.

This article describes a FRET-based flow cytometry protocol to quantify protein self-assembly in both S. cerevisiae and HEK293T cells.

This protocol presents steps taken to dissect ovaries in the freshwater planarians, Schmidtea mediterranea. The dissected ovaries are compatible for antibody immunostaining and ultrastructural analysis with transmission electron microscopy to study the cell biology of the oocytes and somatic cells, providing an imaging depth and quality that were previously inaccessible.