August 2011: This Month in JoVE

JoVE 3776 8/01/2011

Aaron Kolski-Andreaco

Here are some highlights from the August 2011 Issue of Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE).

Pharmacological and Functional Genetic Assays to Manipulate Regeneration of the Planarian Dugesia japonica

JoVE 3058 8/31/2011

John D. Chan, Jonathan S. Marchant

Department of Pharmacology and The Stem Cell Institute, University of Minnesota Medical School

An attractive model for studying stem cell differentiation within a live animal is the planarian flatworm. Regeneration is studied by simple amputation experiments that are easily performed in a basic laboratory and are amenable to pharmacological and genetic (in vivo RNAi) manipulation as detailed by protocols in this article.

Planarian Immobilization, Partial Irradiation, and Tissue Transplantation

JoVE 4015 8/06/2012

Otto C. Guedelhoefer IV^1,2, Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado^3,4

¹Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, University of Utah School of Medicine, ²Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, UCSB, ³Howard Hughes Medical Institute, ⁴Stowers Institute for Medical Research

An effective method for grafting tissue of defined and consistent size between planaria is described. Also included is a description of how the immobilization technique used for transplantation can be adapted, in conjunction with lead shields, for the partial irradiation of live animals.

Cercarial Transformation and in vitro Cultivation of Schistosoma mansoni Schistosomules

JoVE 3191 8/16/2011

John N. Milligan, Emmitt R. Jolly

Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University

We describe an in vitro method for culturing schistosomula of the flatworm parasite Schistosoma mansoni, via the harvesting and transformation of infective cercariae from the fresh water snail intermediate host Biomphalaria glabrata.