Among bone cells, osteocytes are the most abundant, but also the most challenging to study because they are located inside a dense mineralized matrix. Due to their involvement in bone homeostasis, diverse tools are needed to understand their roles in bone physiology and pathology. This work was aimed at establishing a laser-assisted microdissection protocol to isolate osteocytes and analyze their gene expressions. The goal was to overcome the limitations of the technique currently most used: RNA extraction from the whole bone. To perform laser microdissection and subsequent gene expression analysis, the five main steps of the protocol have been adapted for the bone tissue. After testing many parameters, we found that the best options were (1) take unfixed snap-frozen tissue, (2) cryosection with a supported tape system to improve the tissue morphology if necessary, (3) microdissect regions of interest, and (4) recover the bone pieces by catapulting, if feasible, or by gravity. Finally, RNA extraction (5) was the most efficient with a precipitation method and allowed quantifying the expression of well described osteocyte genes (, , , , ). This work describes two protocols optimized for femur and calvaria and gives an overview of the many optimization options that one could try when facing difficulties with laser microdissection.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11264292 | PMC |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jbmrpl/ziae078 | DOI Listing |
J Vis Exp
January 2025
Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China; National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Birth Defect Research and Preventio, Hunan Provincial Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital;
Both DNA replication and RNA transcription utilize genomic DNA as their template, necessitating spatial and temporal separation of these processes. Conflicts between the replication and transcription machinery, termed transcription-replication conflicts (TRCs), pose a considerable risk to genome stability, a critical factor in cancer development. While several factors regulating these collisions have been identified, pinpointing primary causes remains difficult due to limited tools for direct visualization and clear interpretation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBioinformatics
January 2025
Department of Medical Bioinformatics, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, 37099, Germany.
Motivation: Histone modifications play an important role in transcription regulation. Although the general importance of some histone modifications for transcription regulation has been previously established, the relevance of others and their interaction is subject to ongoing research. By training Machine Learning models to predict a gene's expression and explaining their decision making process, we can get hints on how histone modifications affect transcription.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHum Cell
January 2025
Department of Tumor Pathology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Fukui, 23-3 Matsuoka-Shimoaizuki, Eiheiji, Fukui, 910-1193, Japan.
Only a few human ovarian endometrioid carcinoma cell lines are currently available, partly due to the difficulty of establishing cell lines from low-grade cancers. Here, using a cell immortalization strategy consisting of i) inactivation of the p16-pRb pathway by constitutive expression of mutant cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (R24C) (CDK4) and cyclin D1, and ii) acquisition of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) activity, we established a human ovarian endometrioid carcinoma cell line from a 46-year-old Japanese woman. That line, designated JFE-21, has proliferated continuously for over 6 months with a doubling time of ~ 55 h.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMetab Brain Dis
January 2025
Key Laboratory of Longevity and Aging-Related Disease of Chinese Ministry of Education, Center for Translational Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, China.
2-dodecyl-6-methoxycyclohexa-2,5-diene-1,4-dione (DMDD) is a cyclohexanedione compound extracted from the roots of Averrhoa carambola L. Several studies have documented its beneficial effects on diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, and cancer. However, its potential neuroprotective effects on Parkinson's disease (PD) have not yet been explored.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAppl Microbiol Biotechnol
January 2025
Chair of Microbiology, Technical University of Munich, TUM School of Life Science, Emil-Ramann-Str. 4, 85354, Freising, Germany.
The anaerobic bacterium Clostridium cellulovorans is a promising candidate for the sustainable production of biofuels and platform chemicals due to its cellulolytic properties. However, the genomic engineering of the species is hampered because of its poor genetic accessibility and the lack of genetic tools. To overcome this limitation, a protocol for triparental conjugation was established that enables the reliable transfer of vectors for markerless chromosomal modification into C.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!