Texas A&M Health Science Center

This paper aims to instruct the reader in the operation of an integrated atomic force-optical imaging microscope for mechanical stimulation of live cells in culture. A step-by-step protocol is presented. A representative data set that shows live cell response to mechanical stimulation is presented.

Methods for bioluminescence imaging of bacterial infections in living animals are decribed. Pathogens are modified to express luciferase allowing optical whole body imaging of infections in live animals. Animal models can be infected with luciferase expressing pathogens and the resulting course of disease visualized in real-time by bioluminescence imaging.

A description of the formation of a polymer microarray using an on-chip photopolymerization technique. The high throughput surface characterization using atomic force microscopy, water contact angle measurements, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry and a cell attachment assay is also described.

We present an in vitro mouse fetal liver erythroblast culture system that dissects the early and late stages of terminal erythropoiesis. This system facilitates functional analysis of specific genes in different developmental stages.

Animal models are frequently employed to mimic serious bone injury in biomedical research. Due to their small size, establishment of stabilized bone lesions in mice are beyond the capabilities of most research groups. Herein, we describe a simple method for establishing and analyzing experimental femoral defects in mice.

This protocol describes an optogenetic strategy to modulate mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activity during cell differentiation and Xenopus embryonic development. This method allows for the reversible activation of the MAPK signaling pathway in mammalian cell culture and in multicellular live organisms, like Xenopus embryos, with high spatial and temporal resolution.

We describe the optical imaging of mice infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) using reporter enzyme fluorescence (REF). This protocol facilitates the sensitive and specific detection of M. tuberculosis in pre-clinical animal models for pathogenesis, therapeutics and vaccine research.

Optical tissue phantoms are essential tools for calibration and characterization of optical imaging systems and validation of theoretical models. This article details a method for phantom fabrication that includes replication of tissue optical properties and three-dimensional tissue structure.

This article describes a method to mount fragile zebrafish embryos for extended time-lapse confocal microscopy. This low-cost method is easy to perform using regular glass-bottom microscopy dishes for imaging on any inverted microscope. The mounting is performed in layers of agarose at different concentrations.

Detection of host-bacterial pathogen interactions based on phenotypic adherence using high-throughput fluorescence labeling imaging along with automated statistical analysis methods enables rapid evaluation of potential bacterial interactions with host cells.