Westmead Hospital

6 articles published in JoVE

• Cancer Research

  
  An Orthotopic Resectional Mouse Model of Pancreatic Cancer Tony C. Y. Pang^1,2,4,5, Zhihong Xu^1,2, Alpha Raj Mekapogu^1,2, Srinivasa Pothula^1,2, Therese M. Becker³, David Goldstein¹, Romano C. Pirola^1,2, Jeremy S. Wilson^1,2, Minoti V. Apte^{1,2 1}Pancreatic Research Group, South Western Sydney Clinical School, University of New South Wales, ²Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research, ³Centre for Circulating Tumour Cell Diagnostics and Research, Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research, ⁴Surgical Innovations Unit, Westmead Hospital, ⁵Westmead Clinical School, University of Sydney In the clinical context, patients with localized pancreatic cancer will undergo pancreatectomy followed by adjuvant treatment. This protocol reported here aims to establish a safe and effective method of modelling this clinical scenario in nude mice, through orthotopic implantation of pancreatic cancer followed by distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy.

• Immunology and Infection

  
  Characterization of Human Monocyte Subsets by Whole Blood Flow Cytometry Analysis Rekha Marimuthu^1,2, Habib Francis^1,2, Suat Dervish³, Stephen C.H. Li⁴, Heather Medbury*^1,2, Helen Williams*^{1,2 1}Department of Surgery, Vascular Biology Research Centre, Westmead Hospital, ²Westmead Clinical School, Department of Surgery, The University of Sydney, ³Westmead Research Hub, Westmead Institute for Medical Research, ⁴Institute for Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, Westmead Hospital Here we present a protocol for characterizing monocyte subsets by whole blood flow cytometry. This includes outlining how to gate the subsets and assess their expression of surface markers and giving an example of the assessment of the expression of M1 (inflammatory) and M2 markers (anti-inflammatory).

• Medicine

  
  Whole Genome Sequencing of Candida glabrata for Detection of Markers of Antifungal Drug Resistance Chayanika Biswas*¹, Sharon C-A. Chen*^1,2,3, Catriona Halliday^1,2, Elena Martinez¹, Rebecca J. Rockett¹, Qinning Wang¹, Verlaine J. Timms¹, Rajat Dhakal¹, Rosemarie Sadsad¹, Karina J. Kennedy⁴, Geoffrey Playford^4,5, Deborah J. Marriott⁶, Monica A. Slavin⁷, Tania C. Sorrell^1,3, Vitali Sintchenko^{1,2,3 1}Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology-Public Health, Westmead Hospital, ²Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Laboratory Services, ICPMR, ³Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, The University of Sydney, ⁴Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Canberra Hospital and Health Services, Australian National University Medical School, ⁵Infection Management Services, Australian National University Medical School, ⁶ This study implemented whole genome sequencing for analysis of mutations in genes conferring antifungal drug resistance in Candida glabrata. C. glabrata isolates resistant to echinocandins, azoles and 5-flucytosine, were sequenced to illustrate the methodology. Susceptibility profiles of the isolates correlated with presence or absence of specific mutation patterns in genes.

• Developmental Biology

  
  Large-Scale Production of Cardiomyocytes from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells Using a Highly Reproducible Small Molecule-Based Differentiation Protocol Hananeh Fonoudi*^1,2,3,8, Hassan Ansari*^1,8, Saeed Abbasalizadeh¹, Gillian M Blue^6,7, Nasser Aghdami¹, David S Winlaw^6,7, Richard P Harvey^2,3,4, Alexis Bosman*^2,3, Hossein Baharvand*^{1,5 1}Department of Stem Cells and Developmental Biology, Cell Science Research Center, Royan Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Technology, ACECR, ²Developmental and Stem Cell Biology Division, Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, ³St. Vincent´s Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, ⁴School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, ⁵Department of Developmental Biology, University of Science and Culture, ⁶Heart Centre for Children, The Children´s Hospital at Westmead, ⁷Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, ⁸Department of Developmental Biology, University of Science and Culture, Tehran, Iran Here, we present a robust, fast and scalable cardiomyocyte differentiation protocol for human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs). Cardiomyocytes derived using this large-scale method can provide sufficient cell numbers for their effective use in human cardiovascular disease modeling, high-throughput drug screening, and potentially clinical applications.

• Immunology and Infection

  
  Rapid Identification of Gram Negative Bacteria from Blood Culture Broth Using MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry Timothy J. Gray¹, Lee Thomas¹, Tom Olma¹, David H. Mitchell¹, Jon R. Iredell^1,2,3, Sharon C. A. Chen^{1,3 1}Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Laboratory Services, Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, Westmead Hospital, ²Centre for Research Excellence in Critical Infection, Westmead Millennium Institute, Westmead Hospital, ³Sydney Emerging Infectious Diseases Institute, University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital The application of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) directly to blood culture broth expedites the identification of bacteria. The presented method is a rapid and reliable method for identification of Gram negative bacteria directly from blood culture broth.

• Medicine

  
  Utility of Dissociated Intrinsic Hand Muscle Atrophy in the Diagnosis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Parvathi Menon^1,2, Steve Vucic^{1,2 1}Department of Neurology, Westmead Hospital, ²Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Australia Dissociated atrophy of intrinsic hand muscles, termed the split hand, appears to be a specific feature of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Consequently, a novel neurodiagnostic test, termed the split hand index, was developed to quantify the clinical phenomenon of the split hand, which differentiated ALS from mimic disorders.