China Academy Of Chinese Medical Sciences

Intracellular calcium recycling plays a critical role in regulation of systolic and diastolic function in cardiomyocytes. Here, we describe a protocol to evaluate sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca²⁺ reserve and diastolic calcium removal function in cardiomyocytes by a calcium imaging system.

Here, we present a refined protocol to effectively reveal biotinylated dextran amine (BDA) labeling with a fluorescent staining method through a reciprocal neural pathway. It is suitable for analyzing the fine structure of BDA labeling and distinguishing it from other neural elements under a confocal laser scanning microscope.

We describe a method of inducing hairy roots by Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformation in Tartary buckwheat (Fagopyrum tataricum). This can be used to investigate gene functions and production of secondary metabolites in Tartary buckwheat, be adopted for any genetic transformation, or used for other medicinal plants after improvement.

Here we present a protocol to visualize spatial correlation of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP)-immunoreactive nerve fibers and blood vessels in the cranial dura mater using immunofluorescence and fluorescent histochemistry with CGRP and phalloidin, respectively. In addition, the origin of these nerve fibers was retrograde traced with a fluorescent neural tracer.

This protocol describes a composite animal model with exposure to particulate matter (PM) that aggravates myocardial ischemia with atherosclerosis.

The thickness of tissue sections limited the morphological study of the skin innervation. The present protocol describes a unique tissue clearing technique to visualize cutaneous nerve fibers in thick 300 µm tissue sections under confocal microscopy.

The protocol shows a method to examine spatial correlation among the pre-synaptic terminals, post-synaptic receptors, and peri-synaptic Schwann cells in the rat medial gastrocnemius muscle using fluorescent immunohistochemistry with different biomarkers, namely, neurofilament 200, vesicular acetylcholine transporter, alpha-bungarotoxin, and S100.

This study provides experimental data for treating immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) with Dioscin (DIO), the active ingredient of Dioscoreae Nipponicae Rhizoma (DNR), and a paradigm for studying herbal medicine's effects and underlying mechanisms in vivo and in vitro.

The present protocol outlines in vivo calcium imaging for measuring the responses of ensembles of lumbar-6 DRG neurons to somatic and visceral stimuli. Thorough comparisons can be made among neurons responding to different stimuli. This protocol is valuable for investigating mechanisms of visceral pain and somatic stimulation, such as acupuncture.

This study presents a surgical manipulation to expose the T-DRG in anesthetized mice for in vivo calcium imaging, along with synchronous ECG recordings. This method represents a cutting-edge tool for studying peripheral electric nerve stimulation and thoracic visceral organ inputs, as well as their interactions at the primary sensory level.

This manuscript describes the operational procedures and precautions to probe the potential common pathogenic mechanisms linking primary Sjogren's syndrome and lung adenocarcinoma through bioinformatics analysis and experimental verification.

The experiment used here shows a method of molecular docking combined with probe technologies to predict and validate the interaction between small molecules of traditional Chinese medicine and protein targets.

The pericytes in retinal vasculature were examined by immunofluorescent staining with platelet-derived growth factor receptor β after retro-orbital injection of fluorescent tomato lectin. The labeled retina was further treated with the tissue-clearing method and whole mounted for visualizing the three-dimensional views of pericytes surrounding retinal vasculature under a confocal microscope.