Ex Vivo Culture
Ex Vivo Culture - Related Videos
10:51
A System for ex vivo Culturing of Embryonic Pancreas
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Cited by 23 •
2012
Here, we describe a method for isolation, culture and manipulation of mouse embryonic pancreas. This represents an excellent ex vivo system for studying various aspects of pancreatic development, including morphogenesis, differentiation and growth. Pancreatic bud explants can be cultured for several days and used in a range of different applications, including whole-mount immunofluorescence and live imaging.
08:39
Ex vivo Culturing of Whole, Developing Drosophila Brains
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Cited by 16 •
2012
This article describes a method by which one can mimic in vivo development of the Drosophila mushroom body in an ex vivo culture system.
07:47
A Novel Ex vivo Culture Method for the Embryonic Mouse Heart
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Cited by 12 •
2013
Developmental studies in the mouse are hampered by the inaccessibility of the embryo during gestation. To promote the long-term culture of the embryonic heart at late stages of gestation, we developed a protocol in which the excised heart is cultured in a semi-solid, dilute Matrigel.
08:45
Method for Culture of Early Chick Embryos ex vivo (New Culture)
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Cited by 9 •
2008
This video demonstrates New culture, a method by which chick embryos are cultured outside the egg for up to 24 hr. This method enables one to study early development (primitive streak to 14 som.), a period corresponding to E7-9 in mouse. Applications of this technique include electroporation, in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry.
08:33
An Ex vivo Culture System to Study Thyroid Development
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Cited by 14 •
2014
This protocol describes dissection of mouse embryonic thyroid anlagen and the culture of explants on semiporous filters or on microscopy plastic slides. This system is ideal to study morphogenetic or differentiation events occurring during thyroid development of wild type or knockout embryos, and is amenable to gain- and loss-of-function experiments.
FAQs
Maintaining biological function outside the organism depends on providing key environmental inputs rather than reproducing the entire body. Ex vivo culture supplies nutrients, gases, temperature, and signaling factors under defined conditions. These inputs support viability and activity, allowing researchers to examine responses while controlling variables that would otherwise be regulated by the whole organism.
Signaling factors help provide the regulatory cues needed to support cellular or tissue activity after removal from the organism. Their inclusion is important because isolated samples no longer receive normal whole-body regulation. By controlling these cues, investigators can examine biological behavior in a simplified system and relate observed changes to specific experimental conditions.
In an organism, cells, tissues, and organs operate under integrated whole-body regulation. Ex vivo culture removes that broader context and supplies selected conditions instead. The trade-off is experimental control: researchers can observe isolated biological responses more directly, but they must interpret findings in relation to mechanisms that operate in living systems.
Researchers remove the selected cells, tissue, or organ under defined conditions, then maintain the sample with the nutrients, gases, temperature, and signaling factors needed to support viability and activity. They can subsequently observe cellular behavior, tissue responses, or disease-related changes. The setup is selected according to the biological material and the question being studied.
Ex vivo culture can reveal how isolated biological material behaves under controlled conditions, including changes in cellular behavior, tissue responses, and disease-related features. Because the system is simplified, investigators can examine these outcomes without the full complexity of whole-body regulation. This makes it useful for linking observable responses with underlying biological mechanisms.
It supports studies of development, physiology, infection, drug effects, and tissue engineering. In each area, researchers can examine responses in maintained cells, tissues, or organs while controlling the surrounding conditions. The resulting observations do not replace studies in living systems; instead, they help connect changes in isolated material with mechanisms relevant to organismal biology.