University of Victoria

The Vermicelli and Capellini Handling Tests of forepaw dexterity take advantage of the natural inclination of rodents to manipulate food items using skillful forepaw and digit movements. Animals are videotaped while handling short strands of uncooked dry pasta. Slow motion video playback allows for the quantification of forepaw adjustments.

A click-chemistry based method that allows for the rapid, noninvasive, and robust labeling of alkyne-tagged glycans in zebrafish embryos is described. Fucosylated glycans in the enveloping layer of zebrafish embryos in the late gastrulation stage were imaged in this study.

Stable Isotope Standards and Capture by Anti-Peptide Antibodies (SISCAPA) couples affinity enrichment of peptides with stable isotope dilution mass spectrometry (MRM-MS) to provide quantitative measurement of peptides as surrogates for their respective proteins. Here we describe the protocol using magnetic particles in a partially automated format.

The following setup approach details low power optical trapping of dielectric nanoparticles using a double-nanohole in metal film.

Dithranol (DT; 1,8-dihydroxy-9,10-dihydroanthracen-9-one) has previously been reported as a MALDI matrix for tissue imaging of small molecules; protocols for the use of DT for the MALDI imaging of endogenous lipids on the surface of tissue sections by positive-ion MALDI-MS on an ultrahigh-resolution quadrupole-FTICR instrument are provided here.

A reference interferometer technique, which is designed to remove undesirable laser jitter noise for nanodetection, is utilized for probing an ultra-high quality factor microcavity. Instructions for assembly, setup, and data acquisition are provided, alongside the measurement process for specifying the cavity quality factor.

Mouse models have become increasingly popular in studies of behavioral neuroscience. As models advance, it is important to develop sensitive behavioral measures specific to the mouse. This protocol describes the Pasta Matrix Reaching Task, which is a skilled motor task for use in mouse models of stroke.

This protocol introduces lateralized early odor preference learning in rats using acute single naris occlusion. Lateralized learning permits the examination of behavioral outcomes and underpinning biological mechanisms within the same animals, reducing variance induced by between-animal designs. This protocol can be used to investigate molecular mechanisms underpinning early odor learning.

Here we present a cost-effective method for defining chemical-genetic interactions in budding yeast. The approach is built on fundamental techniques in yeast molecular biology and is well suited for the mechanistic interrogation of small to medium collections of chemicals and other media environments.

A protocol for the protein quantification in complex biological fluids using automated immuno-MALDI (iMALDI) technology is presented.

This article describes the growth of epitaxial films of Mg₃N₂ and Zn₃N₂ on MgO substrates by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy with N₂ gas as the nitrogen source and optical growth monitoring.

The protocol has been developed to effectively extract intact histones from sorghum leaf materials for profiling of histone post-translational modifications that can serve as potential epigenetic markers to aid engineering drought resistant crops.

We describe protocols for measuring pH, oxidative events, and protein digestion in individual macropinosomes in live cells. An emphasis is placed on dual-fluorophore ratiometric microscopy and the advantages it offers over population-based techniques.

Here, it is demonstrated how an awake closed-head injury model can be used for examining the effects of repeated mild traumatic brain injury (r-mTBI) on synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus. The model replicates important features of r-mTBI in patients and is used in conjunction with in vitro electrophysiology.