University of Oslo

In this paper we present a method for transplanting human stem cells into various regions of the central nervous system of the chicken embryo. This provides an in vivo model for assessing the proliferation and differentiation of various types of human stem cells in embryonic tissue environments.

Freeze-drying is often an easy and convenient way to obtain dry products of viable bacterial cells. An issue of the process is cell survival. We detail here a procedure to investigate how cell survival during freeze-drying is influenced by the properties of the formulation used.

Cryo Electron Microscopes, either Scanning (SEM) or Transmission (TEM), are widely used for characterization of biological samples or other materials with a high water content¹. A SEM/Focused Ion Beam (FIB) is used to identify features of interest in samples and extract a thin, electron-transparent lamella for transfer to a cryo-TEM.

This article describes a method for generating a reproducible spinal cord compression injury (SCI) in the neonatal mouse. The model provides an advantageous platform for studying mechanisms of adaptive plasticity that underlie spontaneous functional recovery.

A simple and reliable method is described here to analyze a set of NK cell functions such as degranulation, cytokine and chemokine production within different NK cell subsets.

We present a detailed method to study human placental physiology in vivo at term. The method combines blood sampling from the incoming and outgoing vessels on the maternal and fetal sides of the placenta with ultrasound measurements of volume blood flow and placental tissue sampling.

Myelinating oligodendrocytes promote rapid action potential propagation and neuronal survival. Described here is a protocol for oligodendrocyte-specific expression of fluorescent proteins in organotypic brain slices with subsequent time-lapse imaging. Further, a simple procedure for visualizing unstained myelin is presented.

Here a simple and well-validated protocol for measuring bulk autophagic sequestration activity in mammalian cells is described. The method is based on quantifying the proportion of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in sedimentable cell fractions compared to total cellular LDH levels.

Here we describe a protocol to prepare and maintain primary pituitary cell cultures from medaka (Oryzias latipes). The optimized conditions in this protocol take important parameters such as temperature, osmolality, and pH into consideration by mimicking the physiological conditions of the fish, thereby enabling physiologically more meaningful results.

Here we present a protocol for the use of pre-existing antibiotic resistance-cassette deletion constructs as a basis for making deletion mutants in other E. coli strains. Such deletion mutations can be mobilized and inserted into the corresponding locus of a recipient strain using P1 bacteriophage transduction.

Here, a protocol for medium- to high-throughput analysis of protein phosphorylation events at the cellular level is presented. Phospho flow cytometry is a powerful approach to characterize signaling aberrations, identify and validate biomarkers, and assess pharmacodynamics.

Solid-supported, protein-free, double phospholipid bilayer membranes (DLBM) can be transformed into complex and dynamic lipid nanotube networks and can serve as 2D bottom-up models of the endoplasmic reticulum.

We describe a protocol to assess facial muscle activity in response to experienced and observed tactile stimulation using facial electromyography.

Here we describe a protocol that utilizes commercially available automated systems to pharmacologically validate the prepulse inhibition (PPI) assay in larval zebrafish.

Melts and fluids are ubiquitous vectors of mass transport in natural systems. We have developed an open-source package to analyze ab initio molecular-dynamics simulations of such systems. We compute structural (bonding, clusterization, chemical speciation), transport (diffusion, viscosity) and thermodynamic properties (vibrational spectrum).

The subretinal implantation of retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) is one of the most promising approaches for the treatment of degenerative retinal diseases. However, the performance of preclinical studies on large-eye animal models remains challenging. This report presents guidelines for the subretinal transplantation of RPE on a cell carrier into minipigs.

To avoid the limitations associated with the enzymatic or mechanical passaging of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) cultured on feeder cells, we have established a fast, effective, cost-efficient, high-yield method for harvesting hESC or hiPSC colonies maintained on a feeder cell layer of human foreskin fibroblasts using EDTA-mediated dis-adhesion.

A protocol is presented for the determination of low-abundance biomarkers from dried serum samples exemplified with the biomarker progastrin-releasing peptide (ProGRP). Antibody-coated magnetic beads are used for the selective cleanup and enrichment of a proteotypic ProGRP peptide. The captured peptide is subsequently analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

This piglet model involves surgical instrumentation, asphyxiation until the cardiac arrest, resuscitation, and post-resuscitation observation. The model allows for multiple sampling per animal, and by using continuous invasive arterial blood pressure, ECG, and non-invasive cardiac output monitoring, it provides knowledge about hemodynamics and cardiac pathophysiology in perinatal asphyxia and neonatal cardiopulmonary resuscitation.