University of Auckland

Cell transplantation is an essential technique for studying tissue regeneration and for developing cell-based therapies of disease. We demonstrate here a microsurgical technique that permits the transplantation of genetically labeled cells directly into the kidney of adult zebrafish fish.

Amblyopia is a developmental disorder of the visual cortex that is often accompanied by strong suppression of one eye. We present a new technique for measuring and treating interocular suppression in patients with amblyopia that can be deployed using virtual reality goggles or a portable iPod Touch device.

Pair recordings are simultaneous whole cell patch clamp recordings from two synaptically connected neurons, enabling precise electrophysiological and pharmacological characterization of the synapses between individual neurons. Here we describe the detailed methodology and requirements for establishing this technique in organotypic hippocampal slice cultures in any laboratory equipped for electrophysiology.

This protocol outlines a novel method to create a spatially detailed finite element model of the intracellular architecture of cardiomyocytes from electron microscopy and confocal microscopy images. The power of this spatially detailed model is demonstrated using case studies in calcium signaling and bioenergetics.

Simultaneous magnetoencephalography and electroencephalography provides a useful tool to search for common and distinct macro-scale mechanisms of reductions in consciousness induced by different anesthetics. This paper illustrates the empirical methods underlying the recording of such data from healthy humans during N-Methyl-D-Aspartate-(NMDA)-receptor-antagonist-based anesthesia during inhalation of nitrous oxide and xenon.

This protocol describes an eyeblink conditioning paradigm appropriate for experiments with one-year-old infants. Commercial or custom-made equipment can be used to deliver the stimuli, and data collection and analysis should be performed on the video recordings.

The aim of this method is to generate an in vivo model of tumor angiogenesis by xenografting mammalian tumor cells into a zebrafish embryo that has fluorescently-labelled blood vessels. By imaging the xenograft and associated vessels, a quantitative measurement of the angiogenic response can be obtained.

Here, we describe the synthesis of drug-loaded liposomes and their microinjection into larval zebrafish for the purpose of targeting drug delivery to macrophage-lineage cells.

This protocol is for evaluating corticospinal tract function within 1 week of stroke. It can be used to select and stratify patients in trials of interventions designed to improve upper limb motor recovery and outcomes and in clinical practice for predicting upper limb functional outcomes 3 months after stroke.

This study aims to develop a novel human organotypic retinal culture (HORC) model that prevents compromising retinal integrity during explant handling. This is achieved by culturing the retina with the overlying vitreous and the underlying retinal pigment epithelium-choroid (RPE-choroid) and sclera.

Here we describe a protocol to generate kidney organoids from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs). This protocol generates kidney organoids within two weeks. The resulting kidney organoids can be cultured in large-scale spinner flasks or multi-well magnetic stir plates for parallel drug-testing approaches.

This article presents a small-scale plasma membrane isolation protocol for the characterization of Candida albicans ABC (ATP-binding cassette) protein Cdr1, overexpressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. A protease-cleavable C-terminal mGFPHis double tag with a 16-residue linker between Cdr1 and the tag was designed to facilitate the purification and detergent-screening of Cdr1.

This protocol presents a collection of sarcomere, calcium, and macroscopic geometric data from an actively contracting cardiac trabecula ex vivo. These simultaneous measurements are made possible by the integration of three imaging modalities.

Here we demonstrate the technique of using impedance-based biosensors: ECIS and cellZscope, for measuring brain endothelial barrier strength. We detail the preparation and technique of adding various stimuli to an in vitro model of the brain endothelium. We measure, record, and give a representative analysis of the findings.