Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center View Institution's Website 7 articles published in JoVE Medicine An Epithelial Abrasion Model for Studying Corneal Wound Healing Prince K. Akowuah1, Angie De La Cruz1, C. Wayne Smith2, Rolando E. Rumbaut2,3, Alan R. Burns1,2 1College of Optometry, University of Houston, 2Children’s Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, 3Center for Translational Research on Inflammatory Diseases (CTRID), Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center Here, a protocol for creating a central corneal epithelial abrasion wound in the mouse using a trephine and a blunt golf club spud is described. This corneal wound healing model is highly reproducible and is now being used to evaluate compromised corneal wound healing in the context of diseases. Biology Serial Block-Face Scanning Electron Microscopy (SBF-SEM) of Biological Tissue Samples Justin A. Courson1, Paul T. Landry1, Thao Do1, Eric Spehlmann2, Pascal J. Lafontant2, Nimesh Patel1, Rolando E. Rumbaut3,4, Alan R. Burns1,4 1College of Optometry, University of Houston, 2Department of Biology, DePauw University, 3Center for Translational Research on Inflammatory Diseases (CTRID), Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 4Children’s Nutrition Center, Baylor College of Medicine This protocol outlines a routine method for using serial block-face scanning electron microscopy (SBF-SEM), a powerful 3D imaging technique. Successful application of SBF-SEM hinges on proper fixation and tissue staining techniques, as well as careful consideration of imaging settings. This protocol contains practical considerations for the entirety of this process. Immunology and Infection Cigarette Smoke Exposure in Mice using a Whole-Body Inhalation System Daniel E. Morales-Mantilla1,2, Xinyan Huang3,7, Philip Erice1,3, Paul Porter4, Yun Zhang1,5, Mary Figueroa6, Joya Chandra6, Katherine Y. King2, Farrah Kheradmand4,8, Antony Rodríguez3,8 1Program in Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine, 2Department of Pediatrics, Section of Infectious Diseases, Baylor College of Medicine, 3Department of Medicine - Immunology Allergy and Rheumatology, Baylor College of Medicine, 4Department of Medicine, Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, 5Department of Pathology and Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine, 6Department of Pediatrics, Research and Department of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 7Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, 8Center for Translational Research on Inflammatory Diseases (CTRID), Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center This protocol demonstrates the study of the pathophysiologic effects of cigarette smoke (CS) with a whole-body inhalation (WBI) exposure system (WBIS) built in-house. This system can expose animals to CS under controlled repeatable conditions for research of CS-mediated effects on lung emphysema and hematopoiesis. Medicine Murine Echocardiography of Left Atrium, Aorta, and Pulmonary Artery Alejandro Granillo1, Celia A Pena1, Thuy Pham1, Lavannya M Pandit2, George E. Taffet1 1Huffington Center on Aging, Baylor College of Medicine, 2Pulmonary/Critical Care/Sleep Medicine, Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center The following protocol describes the methodology for the acquisition and analysis of echocardiographic images used to obtain the Left Atrial Volume (LAV), Aorta (Ao) diameter, and Pulmonary Artery (PA) diameter in mice. This technique is a non-invasive, non-terminal procedure that allows assessment of the cardiopulmonary function. Medicine Network Analysis of the Default Mode Network Using Functional Connectivity MRI in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Zulfi Haneef1,2, Agatha Lenartowicz3, Hsiang J. Yeh4, Jerome Engel Jr.4, John M. Stern4 1Department of Neurology, Baylor College of Medicine, 2Neurology Care Line, Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, 3Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, 4Department of Neurology, University of California, Los Angeles The Default Mode Network (DMN) in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE) is analyzed in the resting state of the brain using seed-based functional connectivity MRI (fcMRI). Medicine Assessing Phagocytic Clearance of Cell Death in Experimental Stroke by Ligatable Fluorescent Probes Candace L. Minchew1,2, Vladimir V. Didenko1,2 1Baylor College of Medicine, 2Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center We present a new fluorescence technique for selective in situ labeling of active phagocytic cells, which clear off cell corpses in stroke. The approach is important for assessing brain reaction to ischemia because only a small proportion of phagocytes present in ischemic brain participate in clearance of cell death. Bioengineering In vitro Assembly of Semi-artificial Molecular Machine and its Use for Detection of DNA Damage Candace L. Minchew1,2, Vladimir V. Didenko1,2,3 1Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine, 2Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 3Molecular & Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine We demonstrate the assembly and application of a molecular-scale device powered by a topoisomerase protein. The construct is a bio-molecular sensor which labels two major types of DNA breaks in tissue sections by attaching two different fluorophores to their ends.
