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Gladstone Institutes

2 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Immunology and Infection

Measuring Physiological Responses of Drosophila Sensory Neurons to Lipid Pheromones Using Live Calcium Imaging

Shruti Shankar^1,2, Meredith E.K. Calvert^3,4, Joanne Y. Yew^1,2,5

¹Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, ²Department of Biological Science, National University of Singapore, ³Bioimaging and Biocomputing Facility, Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, ⁴Histology and Light Microscopy Core, Gladstone Institutes, ⁵Pacific Biosciences Research Center, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa

The forelegs and proboscis of Drosophila contain a rich repertoire of gustatory sensory neurons. Here, we present a method using calcium imaging to measure physiological responses from sensory neurons in the foreleg and proboscis of live flies upon exogenous application of a gustatory pheromone.

Bioengineering

Engineering and Characterization of an Optogenetic Model of the Human Neuromuscular Junction

Martin Liberman¹, Miguel Chavez¹, Trevor R. Nash^1,2, Olaia F. Vila^1,3, Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic^1,2,4

¹Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, ²Department of Medicine, Columbia University, ³Gladstone Institutes, ⁴College of Dental Medicine, Columbia University

We describe a reproducible, automated, and unbiased imaging system for characterizing neuromuscular junction function using human engineered skeletal muscle tissue and optogenetic motoneurons. This system allows for the functional quantification of neuromuscular connectivity over time and detects diminished neuromuscular function caused by neurotoxins and myasthenia gravis patient serum.