University of Reading View Institution's Website 5 articles published in JoVE Medicine Transthoracic Echocardiographic Examination in the Rabbit Model Alejandro Giraldo*1, Jesús Talavera López*2, Gavin Brooks1, María Josefa Fernández-del-Palacio2 1Institute for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research, School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, 2Departamento de Medicina y Cirugía Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Murcia Here we describe, step by step, a detailed protocol for performing echocardiography in the rabbit model. We show how to correctly obtain the different echocardiographic views and imaging planes, as well as the different imaging modes available in a clinical echocardiography system routinely used in human and veterinary patients. Biology Measuring Lactase Enzymatic Activity in the Teaching Lab Cattleya S. Leksmono1, Claudia Manzoni1,2, James E. Tomkins1, Walter Lucchesi1,3, Graeme Cottrell1, Patrick A. Lewis1 1School of Pharmacy, University of Reading, 2Department of Molecular Neuroscience, UCL Institute of Neurology, 3School of Biological Sciences, Royal Hollway, University of London The enzymatic activity of lactase is essential for the catabolic processing of the disaccharide lactose. Here, the activity of lactase found in dietary supplements is assayed using a colorimetric assay. This provides students with an experimental platform for understanding the activity of lactase and enzyme kinetics. Medicine Percutaneous Contrast Echocardiography-guided Intramyocardial Injection and Cell Delivery in a Large Preclinical Model Alejandro Giraldo*1, Jesús Talavera López*2, Maria Josefa Fernandez-Del-Palacio2, Obdulio García-Nicolás3,4, Juan Seva4, Gavin Brooks1, José María Moraleda5 1Institute for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research, School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, 2Departamento de Medicina y Cirugía Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Murcia, 3Institute of Virology and Immunology (IVI), 4Departamento de Anatomía y Anatomía Comparada, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Murcia, 5Unidad de Trasplante Hematopoyético y Terapia Celular, Departamento de Hematología, Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Arrixaca, IMIB, Universidad de Murcia Novel therapeutic strategies in cardiac regenerative medicine require extensive and detailed studies in large preclinical animal models before they can be considered for use in humans. Here, we demonstrate a percutaneous contrast echocardiography-guided intramyocardial injection technique in rabbits, which is valuable for hypothesis testing the efficacy of such novel therapies. Neuroscience Concurrent Recording of Co-localized Electroencephalography and Local Field Potential in Rodent Sungmin Kang1, Michael Bruyns-Haylett2, Yurie Hayashi1, Ying Zheng1 1School of Biological Sciences, Whiteknights, University of Reading, 2Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College This protocol describes a simple method for concurrent recording of co-localized electroencephalography (EEG) and multi-laminar local field potential in an anesthetized rat. A burr hole drilled in the skull for the insertion of a microelectrode is shown to produce negligible distortion of the EEG signal. Immunology and Infection Assessing Hepatic Metabolic Changes During Progressive Colonization of Germ-free Mouse by 1H NMR Spectroscopy Peter Heath1, Sandrine Paule Claus2 1School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy, The University of Reading, 2Department of Nutritional Sciences, The University of Reading A progressive colonization procedure is described to further assess its impact on the host hepatic metabolism. Colonization is monitored non invasively by evaluating the urinary excretion of microbial co-metabolites by NMR-based metabolic profiling while hepatic metabolism is assessed by High Resolution Magic Angle Spinning (HR MAS) NMR profiling of intact biopsy.