University of California, Santa Cruz

Persistent practice improves the precision of coordinated movements. Here we introduce a single-pellet reaching task, which is designed to assess the learning and memory of forelimb skill in mice. 

Time-lapse imaging in the living animal provides valuable information on structural reorganization in the intact brain. Here, we introduce a thinned-skull preparation that allows transcranial imaging of fluorescently labeled synaptic structures in the living mouse cortex by two-photon microscopy.

Herein we report a tailored HPLC purification protocol that yields high-purity amyloid beta 42 (Aβ42) and amyloid beta 40 (Aβ40) peptides, capable of oligomer formation. Amyloid beta is a highly aggregation prone, hydrophobic peptide implicated in Alzheimer's disease. The amyloidogenic nature of the peptide makes its purification a challenge.

We describe a novel method for the delivery of DNA plasmid into the urothelial cells of mouse bladder in vivo through urethra catheterization and electroporation. It offers a fast and convenient way for generating autochthonous mouse models of bladder diseases.

A protocol for the generation of dynamic chemical landscapes by photolysis within microfluidic and millifluidic setups is presented. This methodology is suitable to study diverse biological processes, including the motile behavior, nutrient uptake, or adaptation to chemicals of microorganisms, both at the single cell and population level.

The mammary gland is a bilayered structure, comprising outer myoepithelial and inner luminal epithelial cells. Presented is a protocol to prepare organoids using differential trypsinization. This efficient method allows researchers to separately manipulate these two cell types to explore questions concerning their roles in mammary gland form and function.

This protocol describes the field collection and regular laboratory maintenance of substrates seeded with canopy-forming giant kelp for use in restoration trials to address the success and limitations of the 'green gravel' technique in field settings.

Bacteria colonize host tissues that vary in oxygen and iron bioavailability, yet most approaches to studying bacteria use aerated, rich media. This protocol describes culturing the human pathogen Yersinia pseudotuberculosis under varying iron concentrations and oxygen tension, and quantifying activity of the Yersinia type III secretion system, which is an important virulence factor.