UC San Diego

Epidermal keratinocytes form a functional skin barrier and are positioned at the front line of host defense against external environmental insults. Here we describe methods for isolation and primary culture of epidermal keratinocytes from neonatal and adult mouse skin, and induction of terminal differentiation and UVB-triggered inflammatory response from keratinocytes.

Through a double treatment with colchicine, a plant-derived toxin that kills dividing cells, nerve-free Hydra vulgaris can be generated. These Hydra cannot feed or egest on their own. This paper describes an improved method for long-term maintenance of nerve free Hydra vulgaris in the laboratory.

Freshwater planarians exhibit three gaits (gliding, peristalsis, and scrunching) that are distinguishable by quantitative behavioral analysis. We describe a method to induce scrunching using various noxious stimuli, quantification thereof, and distinction from peristalsis and gliding. Using gene knockdown, we demonstrate the specificity of scrunching as a quantitative phenotypic readout.

A multimodal, rapid hyperspectral imaging framework was developed to obtain broadband vibrational sum-frequency generation (VSFG) images, along with brightfield, second harmonic generation (SHG) imaging modalities. Due to the infrared frequency being resonant with molecular vibrations, microscopic structural and mesoscopic morphology knowledge is revealed of symmetry-allowed samples.