Organizer Explant Dissection
Organizer Explant Dissection - Related Videos
14:21
Dissection of Organizer and Animal Pole Explants from Xenopus laevis Embryos and Assembly of a Cell Adhesion Assay
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Cited by 2 •
2007
This video demonstrates the technique used for preparation of organizer and animal pole explants from Xenopus laevis embryos, including the use of the eyebrow knife - a specialized dissection tool made of one's eyebrow. The protocol for assembling an adhesion assay is also given, which probes for the presence of key adhesion molecules present on the surface organizer or animal pole cells that are critical for proper development.
02:21
Dissection and Mounting of Fruit Fly Larval Brain Explants
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2025
This video demonstrates the dissection and mounting of brain explants from Drosophila larvae. The central nervous system (CNS), attached to eye disks, is extracted from the larvae and then mounted on a glass slide in a physiological saline solution.
10:18
Dissection of Organs from the Adult Zebrafish
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Cited by 167 •
2010
This protocol describes a procedure for identifying and dissecting organs from the adult zebrafish.
08:24
Dissection and Culture of Mouse Dopaminergic and Striatal Explants in Three-Dimensional Collagen Matrix Assays
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Cited by 13 •
2012
Explants from the midbrain dopamine system and striatum are used in a collagen matrix assay for the in vitro analysis of mesostriatal and striatonigral pathway development. In this assay axonal outgrowth and guidance can be manipulated and quantified. It can also be modified for assessing other regions or molecular cues.
09:07
Dissection of Xenopus laevis Neural Crest for in vitro Explant Culture or in vivo Transplantation
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Cited by 22 •
2014
This protocol describes how to dissect premigratory cranial neural crest (NC) from Xenopus laevis neurulas. These explants can be plated on fibronectin and cultured in vitro, or grafted back into host embryos. This technique allows studying the mechanisms of NC epithelium-to-mesenchyme transition, migration, and differentiation.
FAQs
Its key logic is experimental separation: organizer tissue is removed from surrounding embryonic cells, so later effects can be attributed to signals produced by the explant rather than to uninterrupted interactions within the embryo. When the isolated tissue changes the fate or gene expression of another tissue, the result provides direct evidence that organizer-derived signals influence developmental patterning.
Responsive tissue provides the biological context needed to test whether organizer signals can alter developmental behavior. By combining an organizer explant with tissue capable of responding, researchers can examine changes in cell fate and gene expression. This comparison helps distinguish organizer activity from properties intrinsic to the responding tissue and clarifies how local interactions contribute to embryonic form.
Comparing organizer explants from different developmental stages or species can show whether organizer activity changes over time or differs among organisms. Such experiments help identify when inductive capacity is strongest and whether related developmental patterning mechanisms are conserved. The results can also guide investigations into the signaling processes that coordinate body-axis formation and tissue differentiation.
After microsurgical isolation, researchers can maintain the explant in culture, place it with responsive tissue, or transplant it to another embryonic location. Culture examines organizer behavior outside its original surroundings, recombination tests communication with responding cells, and transplantation evaluates how organizer-derived signals influence patterning in a new context.
The main outcomes include altered cell fate, changes in gene expression, and effects on embryonic patterning. These readouts connect a physical tissue manipulation with developmental consequences, allowing researchers to determine whether organizer-derived signals influence surrounding or transplanted tissue. Together, they help link local cellular interactions to the establishment of body axes and coordinated embryonic development.
In developmental biology, the technique tests how local signals coordinate tissue induction and embryonic form. Researchers can use it to investigate signaling mechanisms, compare organizer activity across stages or species, and separate the contribution of organizer tissue from that of surrounding cells. Its value comes from providing an experimentally controlled way to examine inductive interactions directly.