Oakland University View Institution's Website 7 articles published in JoVE Medicine Retinal Explant of the Adult Mouse Retina as an Ex Vivo Model for Studying Retinal Neurovascular Diseases Khaled Elmasry1,2,3, Mohamed Moustafa1,2, Mohamed Al-Shabrawey1,2 1Eye Research Center and Department of Foundational Medical Studies, Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, 2Eye Research Institute, Oakland University, 3Human Anatomy and Embryology Department, Mansoura Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University This protocol presents and describes steps for the isolation, dissection, culturing, and staining of retinal explants obtained from an adult mouse. This method is beneficial as an ex vivo model for studying different retinal neurovascular diseases such as diabetic retinopathy. Biology Isolation of Primary Mouse Retinal Pigmented Epithelium Cells Ryan Tomaszewski1,2, Pragya Rajpurohit3, Mei Cheng1,2, Amany Tawfik1,2,3 1Eye Research Institute, Oakland University, 2Eye Research Center (OUWB)/ERC, William Beaumont School of Medicine, 3Oral Biology and Diagnostic Sciences, Dental College of Georgia, Augusta University This manuscript describes a simplified protocol for the isolation of retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) cells from mouse eyes in a stepwise manner. The protocol includes the enucleation and dissection of mouse eyes, followed by the isolation, seeding, and culturing of RPE cells. Neuroscience Immunostaining of Whole-Mount Retinas with the CLARITY Tissue Clearing Method Elizabeth J. Alessio1, Dao-Qi Zhang1 1Eye Research Institute, Oakland University Here we present a protocol to adapt the CLARITY method of the brain tissues for whole-mount retinas to improve the quality of standard immunohistochemical staining and high-resolution imaging of retinal neurons and their subcellular structures. Environment An Experimental Protocol for Studying Mineral Effects on Organic Hydrothermal Transformations Ziming Yang1, Xuan Fu1 1Department of Chemistry, Oakland University Earth-abundant minerals play important roles in the natural hydrothermal systems. Here, we describe a reliable and cost-effective method for the experimental investigation of organic-mineral interactions under hydrothermal conditions. Developmental Biology Isolation and Characterization of Mesenchymal Stromal Cells from Human Umbilical Cord and Fetal Placenta Naimisha Beeravolu1,2, Christina McKee1,2, Ali Alamri1,2, Sasha Mikhael3, Christina Brown1,2, Mick Perez-Cruet2,4, G. Rasul Chaudhry1,2 1Department of Biological Sciences, Oakland University, 2OU-WB Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, 3Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, St. John Provindence - Providence Park Hospital, 4Department of Neurosurgery, Beaumont Health System Here, we present a protocol for the dissection of human umbilical cord (UC) and fetal placenta sample into cord lining (CL), Wharton's jelly (WJ), cord-placenta junction (CPJ), and fetal placenta (FP) for the isolation and characterization of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) using the explant culture technique. Medicine Diagnostic Ultrasound Imaging of Mouse Diaphragm Function Li Zuo1,2, William J. Roberts1,2, Kevin D. Evans1 1Radiologic Sciences & Respiratory Therapy Division, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, 2Department of Biological Sciences, Oakland University Diagnostic ultrasound imaging has proven to be effective in diagnosing various respiratory diseases in human and animal subjects. We demonstrate a comprehensive ultrasound protocol utilized by Dr. Zuo's lab to analyze diaphragm kinetics specifically in mouse models. This is also a non-invasive research technique which can provide quantitative information on mouse respiratory muscle function. Biology RNAi Interference by dsRNA Injection into Drosophila Embryos Ekaterini Iordanou1, Rachana R. Chandran1, Nicholas Blackstone1, Lan Jiang1 1Department of Biological Sciences, Oakland University RNA interference has been proven very effective to analyze gene function in Drosophila tracheal development. A detailed protocol used by Jiang lab to inject dsRNA into fly embryos to knockdown gene expression is illustrated. This technique has the potential for screening genes required for tissue and organ development in Drosophila.