Confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (cSLO) is a non-invasive technique for real-time imaging of the retina. We developed a step-by-step protocol for the semi-automatic evaluation of myeloid cells in cSLO images from CX3CR1 mice, expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) under control of the endogenous CX3C chemokine receptor 1 locus. We identified cSLO parameters allowing us to distinguish animals with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) from sham-treated/naïve animals. Especially cell count (CC) and the total microglial area (SuA) turned out to be reliable parameters. Comparing the cSLO results with clinical parameters, we found significant correlations between the clinical EAE score and the SuA and of the inner retinal layer thickness, measured by optical coherence tomography, with the CC as well as the SuA. As a final step, we performed immunohistochemistry to confirm that the GFP-expressing cells visualized by the cSLO are Iba1 positive and validated the step-by-step protocol against manual counting. We present a semi-automatic step-by-step protocol with a balance between fast data evaluation and adequate accuracy, which is optimized by the option to manually adapt the contrast threshold. This protocol may be useful for numerous research questions on the role of microglial polarization in models of inflammatory and degenerating CNS diseases involving the retina.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2021.761776 | DOI Listing |
FEBS Open Bio
January 2025
Synthetic and Systems Biology Unit, Institute of Biochemistry, HUN-REN Biological Research Centre, Szeged, Hungary.
Malaria, a life-threatening disease caused by Plasmodium parasites, continues to pose a significant global health threat, with nearly 250 million infections and over 600 000 deaths reported annually by the WHO. Fighting malaria is particularly challenging partly due to the complex life cycle of the parasite. However, technological breakthroughs such as the development of the nucleoside-modified mRNA lipid nanoparticle (mRNA-LNP) vaccine platform, along with the discovery of novel conserved Plasmodium antigens such as the E140 protein, present new opportunities in malaria prevention.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChemSusChem
January 2025
Universidad de Antioquia Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Instituto de Química, Calle 70 No 52-21, Medellín, NA, Medellín, COLOMBIA.
In recent years, mechanosynthesis of peptides through either chemical or enzymatic routes has been accomplished. In part, this advancement has been driven due to the organocatalytic properties of peptide-based biomaterials. In this work, we report the merging of chemical and enzymatic protocols under mechanochemical conditions to synthesize peptide materials based on L-proline and L-phenylalanine.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMultimed Man Cardiothorac Surg
January 2025
Congenital Heart Center, Division of Cardiovascular Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation weaning strategies are not standardized. When dealing with patients with complex physiologies and borderline haemodynamics, it is prudent to have a fail-safe method of approaching decannulation from extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Standardizing the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation weaning strategy with a pump-controlled retrograde trial off protocol seems a feasible alternative to traditional venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation weaning approaches.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBio Protoc
January 2025
Department of Biomedicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
During neuronal synaptic transmission, the exocytotic release of neurotransmitters from synaptic vesicles in the presynaptic neuron evokes a change in conductance for one or more types of ligand-gated ion channels in the postsynaptic neuron. The standard method of investigation uses electrophysiological recordings of the postsynaptic response. However, electrophysiological recordings can directly quantify the presynaptic release of neurotransmitters with high temporal resolution by measuring the membrane capacitance before and after exocytosis, as fusion of the membrane of presynaptic vesicles with the plasma membrane increases the total capacitance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdv Mater
January 2025
State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, Department of Pharmacy, School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024, China.
Phytochlorins, a class of plant-derived tetrapyrroles, show great potential as sonosensitizers in sonodynamic therapy (SDT). The development of new phytochlorin-based sonosensitizers has significantly improved SDT, yet the absence of specialized sonodynamic systems limits their clinical translation. Herein, a dedicated ultrasound system along with a detailed step-by-step sonodynamic process from in vitro to in vivo is developed to activate phytochlorin-based sonosensitizers.
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