JoVE General
In situ Quantification of Pancreatic Beta-cell Mass in Mice
Department of Medicine, University of Chicago
The following protocol outlines the process of pancreatic dissection for virtual slice imaging, and the subsequent quantification of all GFP-tagged beta-cells in the entire pancreas.
JoVE Immunology and Infection
Methods to Assess Beta Cell Death Mediated by Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes
Cell-mediated lymphocytotoxicity (CML) assays can be used to test autoreactive responses and study mechanisms of cell death in vitro. However, using live-cell confocal microscopic imaging techniques with fluorescent dyes, the type and kinetics of cell death as well as the pathways utilized can be studied in greater detail.
JoVE General
Immunofluorescent Detection of Two Thymidine Analogues (CldU and IdU) in Primary Tissue
We have derived a strategy to detect sequential incorporation of thymidine analogues (CldU and IdU) into tissues of adult mice to quantify two successive rounds of cell division. This strategy is useful to detect cell turnover of long-lived tissues, oncogenic transformation, or transit-amplifying cells.
JoVE General
Computer-assisted Large-scale Visualization and Quantification of Pancreatic Islet Mass, Size Distribution and Architecture
1Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, 2Laboratory of Biological Modeling, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 3Department of Surgery, University of Chicago, 4Diabetes Division, University of Massachusetts
Novel computer-assisted methods of large-scale procurement and analysis of immunohistochemically stained pancreatic specimens are described: (1) Virtual Slice capture of the entire section; (2) Mass analysis of large-scale data; (3) Reconstruction of 2D Virtual Slices; (4) 3D islet mapping; and (5) Mathematical analysis.
JoVE Bioengineering
Generation and Recovery of β-cell Spheroids From Step-growth PEG-peptide Hydrogels
The following protocol provides techniques for encapsulating pancreatic β-cells in step-growth PEG-peptide hydrogels formed by thiol-ene photo-click reactions. This material platform not only offers a cytocompatible microenvironment for cell encapsulation, but also permits user-controlled rapid recovery of cell structures formed within the hydrogels.
JoVE Immunology and Infection
Depletion of Specific Cell Populations by Complement Depletion
BloodCenter of Wisconsin, Blood Research Institute
To effectively study the function of immune cell populations their purification is often required. Complement depletion is a fast and inexpensive technique for the isolation of immune cell populations with high purity.
JoVE Clinical and Translational Medicine
Assessing Replication and Beta Cell Function in Adenovirally-transduced Isolated Rodent Islets
1Department of Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine, 2Department of Cellular & Integrative Physiology, Indiana University School of Medicine
This protocol allows one to identify factors that modulate functional beta cell mass to find potential therapeutic targets for the treatment of diabetes. The protocol consists of a streamlined method to assess islet replication and beta cell function in isolated rat islets following manipulation of gene expression with adenoviruses.
JoVE Immunology and Infection
Purification of Specific Cell Population by Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorting (FACS)
Blood Research Institute, BloodCenter of Wisconsin
For many scientific studies requiring a biological and chemical analysis of cell populations the cells must be in a high state of purity. Fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) is a superior method in which to obtain pure cell populations.
JoVE General
A Quantitative Assay for Insulin-expressing Colony-forming Progenitors
1Department of Biotechnology & Bioinformatics, California State University Channel Islands, 2Department of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, 3The Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences, Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope
A three-dimensional clonogenic assay that allows pancreatic-like progenitors to differentiate into insulin-expressing colonies is described. This method takes advantage of semi-solid media containing methylcellulose, Matrigel and growth factors, in which single progenitors proliferate and differentiate in vitro, permitting quantification of the number of functional progenitors in a population.
JoVE Immunology and Infection
Flow Cytometry Analysis of Immune Cells Within Murine Aortas
1Deptartment of Microbiology and Molecular Cell Biology, Eastern Virginia Medical School, 2Division of Inflammation Biology, LaJolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology
This paper presents a flow cytometry-based method to investigate the immune composition of aortas. The paper also illustrates an additional technique that allows examining surrounding adventitia and vessel wall separately. This method opens possibilities to perform phenotypical analyses of aortic leukocytes and apply several immunological assays for atherosclerosis studies.
JoVE Editorial
June 2011: This Month in JoVE
Here are some highlights from the June 2011 Issue of Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE).
JoVE Clinical and Translational Medicine
Staining Protocols for Human Pancreatic Islets
Department of Pathology, Immunology, and Laboratory Medicine, University of Florida
This video demonstrates procedures for characterization of human pancreatic islets using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and immunohistochemistry (IHC). Pancreatic sections from head, body, and tail regions are stained by both H&E and IHC to determine islet endocrine composition (insulin, glucagon, and pancreatic polypeptide), cell replication (Ki67), and inflammatory infiltrates (H&E, CD3). The uncinate region is localized using IHC for pancreatic polypeptide.
JoVE Clinical and Translational Medicine
Improved Protocol For Laser Microdissection Of Human Pancreatic Islets From Surgical Specimens
1Molecular Diabetology, Paul Langerhans Institute Dresden, 2Department of GI-, Thoracic- and Vascular Surgery, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, University of Technology Dresden, 3Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Metabolic Unit University of Pisa, 4Labs DC0522, Lilly Corporate Center, 5Genomics, Faculty of Medicine Imperial College London, 6Vital-IT, SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, 7Clinical Biochemistry, Hannover Medical School, 8Cell Physiology and Metabolism, Medical School, University of Geneva, 9Department of Pathology, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, University of Technology Dresden, 10R&D DIAB Division / Translational Medicine, Sanofi-Aventis
Laser microdissection is a technique that allows the recovery of selected cells from minute amounts of parenchyma. Here we describe a protocol for acquiring human pancreatic islets from surgical specimens to be used for transcriptomic studies. Our protocol improves the intrinsic autofluorescence of human beta cells, thus facilitating their collection.
JoVE Editorial
December 2012: This Month in JoVE
1Department of Ophthalmology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, 2JoVE Content Production
Here are some highlights from the December 2012 Issue of Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE).
JoVE Immunology and Infection
Directed Differentiation of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells towards T Lymphocytes
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
Generation of T lymphocytes from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells gives an alternative approach of using embryonic stem cells for T cell-based immunotherapy. The method shows that by utilizing either in vitro or in vivo induction system, iPS cells are able to differentiate into both conventional and antigen-specific T lymphocytes.
JoVE General
Analysis of Physiologic E-Selectin-Mediated Leukocyte Rolling on Microvascular Endothelium
1Department of Dermatology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 2Department of Dermatology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School
This report provides a visual depiction of parallel-plate flow chamber analysis for studying leukocyte endothelial interactions under physiologic shear stress. This method is particularly useful for investigating the role of endothelial (E)-selectin and leukocyte E-selectin ligands that trigger leukocyte rolling on endothelial cell surfaces.
JoVE General
Analysis of Cell Cycle Position in Mammalian Cells
1Department of Biochemistry, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, 2London Regional Cancer Program, Children's Health Research Institute, and Department of Biochemistry, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Ontario
Determining the cell cycle position of a population of cells, or understanding how signals affect proliferation, can be readily measured by flow cytometry using this protocol. We report a simple experimental approach to staining cells and quantifying their position in the cell cycle.
JoVE Immunology and Infection
Murine Model of CD40-activation of B cells
In this video, we demonstrate the procedure of CD40-activation and expansion of murine B cells from splenocytes of C57BL/6 mice, which can be used as a model antigen-presenting cell (APC) to study induction of immunity.
JoVE Neuroscience
Isolation and Culture of Human Fungiform Taste Papillae Cells
1Monell Chemical Senses Center, 2New York University College of Dentistry, 3AFB International
We aimed to develop a reproducible protocol for isolating and maintaining long-term cultures of human fungiform taste papillae cells. Cells from human fungiform papillae obtained by biopsy were successfully maintained in culture for more than eight passages (12 months) without loss of viability.
JoVE Immunology and Infection
Retroviral Transduction of T-cell Receptors in Mouse T-cells
1NYU Cancer institute, New York University School of Medicine, 2Program in Structural Biology, New York University School of Medicine
We present a protocol to produce antigen-specific mouse T-cells using retroviral transduction
JoVE Bioengineering
Cultivation of Human Neural Progenitor Cells in a 3-dimensional Self-assembling Peptide Hydrogel
Albrecht-Kossel-Institute for Neuroregeneration, University of Rostock
Here we describe the use of a self-assembling 3-dimensional scaffold to culture human neural progenitor cells. We present a protocol to release the cells from the scaffolds to be analysed subsequently e.g. by flow cytometry. This protocol might be adapted to other cell types to perform detailed mechanistically studies.
JoVE Immunology and Infection
Real-time Imaging of Leukotriene B4 Mediated Cell Migration and BLT1 Interactions with β-arrestin
Microbiology and Immunology, James Graham Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville
This paper describes the methodology to determine the chemotactic response of leukocytes to specific ligands and identify interactions between the cell surface receptors and cytosolic proteins using live cell imaging techniques.
JoVE General
Analysis of SNARE-mediated Membrane Fusion Using an Enzymatic Cell Fusion Assay
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Louisville School of Medicine
We have developed a cell fusion assay that quantifies SNARE-mediated membrane fusion events by activated expression of β-galactosidase.
JoVE General
Generation of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells from Peripheral Blood Using the STEMCCA Lentiviral Vector
1Center for Regenerative Medicine (CReM), Boston University School of Medicine, 2Department of Hematology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 3Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Here we show a simple and effective protocol for the generation of human iPSCs from 3-4 ml of peripheral blood using a single lentiviral reprogramming vector. Reprogramming of readily available blood cells promises to accelerate the utilization of iPSC technology by making it accessible to a broader research community.
JoVE Immunology and Infection
Induction and Assessment of Class Switch Recombination in Purified Murine B Cells
Department of Immunology, University of Toronto
Following antigen exposure, subpopulations of activated B cells undergo a process known as class switch recombination (CSR) to produce antibody isotypes with distinct effector functions. The protocol outlined in this report explains how CSR can be induced and analyzed in vitro for the purposes of studying B cell function.
JoVE General
A Neuronal and Astrocyte Co-Culture Assay for High Content Analysis of Neurotoxicity
Bioscience Division, High Content Analysis Research and Development, Millipore Inc
This article describes a novel protocol and reagent set designed for sensitive measurement of neurotoxic effects of compounds and treatments on co-cultures of neurons and astrocytes using high content analysis. Results demonstrate that high content analysis represents an exciting novel technology for neurotoxicity assessment.
JoVE Neuroscience
Isolating LacZ-expressing Cells from Mouse Inner Ear Tissues using Flow Cytometry
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine
Flow cytometry is a powerful tool allowing for the isolation and study of specific cell populations. This protocol describes steps for isolating LacZ-expressing cells from cochlear tissues from neonatal transgenic mice. Dissociated cochlear cells were labeled using fluorescent-conjugated substrates of β-galactosidase prior to separation via flow cytometry.
JoVE Immunology and Infection
Accelerated Type 1 Diabetes Induction in Mice by Adoptive Transfer of Diabetogenic CD4+ T Cells
Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
We provide a reproducible method to induce type 1 diabetes (T1D) in mice within two weeks by the adoptive transfer of islet antigen-specific, primary CD4+ T cells.
JoVE General
Adult and Embryonic Skeletal Muscle Microexplant Culture and Isolation of Skeletal Muscle Stem Cells
School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham
The micro-dissected explants technique is a robust and reliable method for isolating proliferative skeletal muscle cells from juvenile, adult or embryonic muscles as a source of skeletal muscle stem cells. Uniquely, these cells have been clonally derived to produce skeletal muscle stem cell lines used for in vivo transplantation.
JoVE Immunology and Infection
Generation of Induced Regulatory T Cells from Primary Human Naïve and Memory T Cells
Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, University of Kentucky
We describe a method for generating regulatory, memory and naïve T cells from a single human blood donor. Polarized Tregs can be then compared to other subsets in a variety of genetic and functional applications with genetic homogeneity, including a suppression assay also detailed here.
JoVE Neuroscience
Isolation and Culture of Neural Crest Cells from Embryonic Murine Neural Tube
1Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Center for Stem Cell Biology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 2Department of Pharmacology, Center for Stem Cell Biology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 3Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Isolation of embryonic neural crest from the neural tube facilitates the use of in vitro methods for studying migration, self-renewal, and multipotency of neural crest.
JoVE Clinical and Translational Medicine
High Content Screening in Neurodegenerative Diseases
1Department of Clinical Genetics, VU University Medical Center, 2Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam
We describe a methodology combining automated cell culturing with high-content imaging to visualize and quantify multiple cellular processes and structures, in a high-throughput manner. Such methods can aid in the further functional annotation of genomes as well as identify disease gene networks and potential drug targets.
JoVE General
The Preparation of Primary Hematopoietic Cell Cultures From Murine Bone Marrow for Electroporation
Gene Expression Division, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc
This procedure describes how to establish primary hematopoietic cell cultures from murine bone marrow and is followed by transfection using the Gene Pulser MXCell electroporation system.
JoVE Neuroscience
The Neuroblast Assay: An Assay for the Generation and Enrichment of Neuronal Progenitor Cells from Differentiating Neural Stem Cell Progeny Using Flow Cytometry
1Department of Neurosurgery, The University of Florida, 2Laboratory for Stem Cell Research, Department of Anatomical Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
This video protocol demonstrates a novel method for the generation and subsequent purification of neuronal progenitor cells from a renewable source of neural stem cells (NSCs) based on their physical (size and internal granularity) and fluorescent properties using flow cytometry technology.
JoVE General
Generation of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells by Reprogramming Human Fibroblasts with the Stemgent Human TF Lentivirus Set
Research and Development, Stemgent
We demonstrate the protocol for the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells from human somatic cells using lentivirus-mediated delivery of the human factors Oct4, Sox2, Nanog, and Lin28. Pluripotency was confirmed by morphology and the presence of embryonic stem (ES) cell-specific markers.
JoVE General
Freezing and Thawing Human Embryonic Stem Cells
Research and Development, Stemgent
Since James Thomson et al developed a technique in 1998 to isolate and grow hES in culture, freezing cells for later use and thawing and expanding cells from a frozen stock have become important procedures performed in routine hES cell culture. Since hES cells are very sensitive to the stresses of freezing and thawing, special care must taken. Here we demonstrate the proper technique for rapidly thawing hES cells from liquid nitrogen stocks, plating them on mouse embryonic feeder cells, and slowly freezing them for long-term storage.
JoVE Immunology and Infection
Ex vivo Expansion of Tumor-reactive T Cells by Means of Bryostatin 1/Ionomycin and the Common Gamma Chain Cytokines Formulation
1Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Virginia Commonwealth University- Massey Cancer Center, 2Department of Internal Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University- Massey Cancer Center, 3Department of Surgery, Virginia Commonwealth University- Massey Cancer Center
An efficient protocol for the ex vivo expansion of tumor-reactive T cells from tumor-draining lymph nodes or other secondary lymphoid tissues of tumor-bearing hosts is described. This protocol selectively expands tumor-specific T cells for use in adoptive immunotherapy of breast cancer.
JoVE General
Oct4GiP Reporter Assay to Study Genes that Regulate Mouse Embryonic Stem Cell Maintenance and Self-renewal
Laboratory of Molecular Carcinogenesis, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
We describe a fluorescence reporter assay to quickly identify and characterize genes that regulate mouse embryonic stem cell maintenance and self-renewal.
JoVE General
Fluorescent Labeling of COS-7 Expressing SNAP-tag Fusion Proteins for Live Cell Imaging
Division of Chemical Biology, New England Biolabs
SNAP-tag and CLIP-tag protein labeling systems enable the specific, covalent attachment of molecules, including fluorescent dyes, to a protein of interest in live cells. Once cloned and expressed, the tagged protein can be used with a variety of substrates for numerous downstream applications without having to clone again.
JoVE Bioengineering
Impulsive Pressurization of Neuronal Cells for Traumatic Brain Injury Study
Department of Engineering Mechanics, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
A novel impulsive cell pressurization experiment has been developed using a Kolsky bar device to investigate the molecular/cellular mechanisms of blast-induced traumatic brain injury.
JoVE Neuroscience
Isolating Nasal Olfactory Stem Cells from Rodents or Humans
1NICN, Aix Marseille University, 2LNPM, Aix Marseille University, 3ENT Department, Aix Marseille University, 4Gene expression Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 5Laboratory of Speech and Language, Aix Marseille University, 6Centre d'Investigations Cliniques en Biothérapie, Aix Marseille University
We describe here a method for biopsying olfactory mucosa from rat and human nasal cavities. These biopsies can be used for either identifying molecular anomalies in brain diseases or isolating multipotent adult stem cells that can be utilized for cell transplantation in animal models of brain trauma/disease.
JoVE Immunology and Infection
Expansion of Human Peripheral Blood γδ T Cells using Zoledronate
1Department of Immunotherapeutics (Medinet), University of Tokyo Hospital, 2MEDINET Co., Ltd
A method to expand γδ T cells from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) is described. PBMC-derived γδ T cells are stimulated and expanded using zoledronate and interleukin-2 (IL-2). Large scale expansion of γδ T cells can be applied to autologous cellular immunotherapy of cancer.
JoVE General
Generation of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells by Reprogramming Mouse Embryonic Fibroblasts with a Four Transcription Factor, Doxycycline Inducible Lentiviral Transduction System
1Stemgent, 2Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Stemgent Dox Inducible Mouse TF Lentivirus Set can reprogram mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) to induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. Here we demonstrate the protocol for DOX-inducible expression of mouse reprogramming transcription factors Oct4, Sox2, Klf4 and c-Myc to generate iPS colonies that express common mES pluripotency markers.
JoVE General
Bimolecular Fluorescence Complementation
Department of Pharmacology, University of Illinois at Chicago
The subcellular localization of proteins is important in determining the spatio-temporal regulation of cell signaling. Here, we describe bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) as a straightforward method for monitoring the spatial interactions of proteins in the cell.
JoVE Immunology and Infection
A Calcium Bioluminescence Assay for Functional Analysis of Mosquito (Aedes aegypti) and Tick (Rhipicephalus microplus) G Protein-coupled Receptors
1Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University (TAMU), 2Department of Molecular and Cellular Medicine, Texas A&M University (TAMU)
This protocol provides instructions for clonal-cell line selection and a calcium bioluminescence assay to analyze the structure-activity relationships of synthesized arthropod neuropeptides on their cognate GPCRs. This assay can be used for receptor deorphanization and structure-activity relationship studies for synthetic analog design and peptide/drug-lead discovery.
JoVE General
FSL Constructs: A Simple Method for Modifying Cell/Virion Surfaces with a Range of Biological Markers Without Affecting their Viability
1Biotechnology Research Institute, AUT University and KODE Biotech Ltd, 2Shemyakin Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry RAS, Moscow, Russia
Function-Spacer-Lipid (FSL) constructs allow the surface characteristics of living cells and virions to be modified without loss of vitality. The method requires only simple contact of an FSL construct solution with a cell/virion and spontaneous and stable surface incorporation occurs.
JoVE Immunology and Infection
RNAi Screening for Host Factors Involved in Vaccinia Virus Infection using Drosophila Cells
Department of Microbiology, Penn Genome Frontiers Institute, University of Pennsylvania
Novel host factors involved in viral infection can be identified through cell-based genome-wide loss of function RNAi screening. A Drosophila cell culture model is particularly amenable to this approach due to the ease and efficiency of RNAi. Here we demonstrate this technique using vaccinia virus as an example.
JoVE Clinical and Translational Medicine
Enhancement of Apoptotic and Autophagic Induction by a Novel Synthetic C-1 Analogue of 7-deoxypancratistatin in Human Breast Adenocarcinoma and Neuroblastoma Cells with Tamoxifen
1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Windsor, 2Chemistry Department and Centre for Biotechnology, Brock University
We have synthesized a novel analogue of pancratistatin with comparable anti-cancer activity as native pancratistatin; interestingly, combinatory treatment with tamoxifen yielded a drastic enhancement in apoptotic and autophagic induction by mitochondrial targeting with minimal effect on noncancerous fibroblasts. Thus, JCTH-4 in combination with tamoxifen could provide a safe anti-cancer therapy.
JoVE General
Analysis of the Development of a Morphological Phenotype as a Function of Protein Concentration in Budding Yeast
Department of Biological Sciences and Purdue Center for Cancer Research, Purdue University
Gene deletion and protein overexpression are common methods for studying functions of proteins. In this article, we describe a protocol for analysis of phenotype development as a function of protein concentration at population and single-cell levels in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
JoVE General
Differentiation of Embryonic Stem Cells into Oligodendrocyte Precursors
We describe a small molecule-based protocol for differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells into oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs). This protocol generates Olig2+NG2+ OPCs with high efficiency by 30 days of differentiation. We also describe a method to generate "spiking" OPCs that can fire action potentials.
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