Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nurnberg 4 articles published in JoVE Medicine Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) as a Suture Material in Tendon Surgery Elias Polykandriotis1,2, Marcus Himmler3, Shirin Mansouri2, Florian Ruppe4, Jasmin Grüner1, Lars Bräeuer5, Dirk W. Schubert3, Raymund E. Horch1 1Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery, University of Erlangen Medical Center, 2Department of Plastic, Hand, and Microsurgery, Sana Hospital Hof, 3Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Friedrich-Alexander-University, Erlangen-Nürnberg, 4Department of Plastic Surgery, Bayreuth Municipal Hospital, 5Institute of Anatomy, Chair II, Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg The present protocol illustrates a method for assessing the biophysical properties of tendon repairs ex vivo. A polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) suture material was evaluated by this method and compared to other materials under different conditions. Immunology and Infection A Modified Surgical Technique for Kidney Transplantation in Mice Decheng Yin*1,2, Jian Fu*1,3, Rongjun Chen4, Nelli Shushakova5, Ida Allabauer1, Xin-Yi Wei1, Mario Schiffer6, Diana Dudziak7, Song Rong*5, André Hoerning*1 1Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, 2Department of Pediatric Surgery, Chengdu Women’s and Children's Central Hospital, 3The Key Laboratory of Hainan Trauma and Disaster Rescue, The first affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University, 4Department of Department of Pediatric Kidney, Liver, and Metabolic Diseases, Hannover Medical School, 5Department of Nephrology, Hannover Medical School, 6Department of Nephrology, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, 7Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg This protocol presents a new surgical technique of mouse kidney transplantation focusing on a modified arterial anastomosis strategy. A vascular suture technique including a simple and safer ureter-bladder anastomosis method is also presented. These modifications shorten the operation time and improve the success rate of the mouse kidney transplantation procedure. Cancer Research Machine Learning Algorithms for Early Detection of Bone Metastases in an Experimental Rat Model Stephan Ellmann1, Lisa Seyler1, Clarissa Gillmann2, Vanessa Popp1, Christoph Treutlein1, Aline Bozec3, Michael Uder1, Tobias Bäuerle1 1Department of Radiology, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 2Department of Medical Physics in Radiation Oncology, German Cancer Research Center, 3Department of Internal Medicine 3, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg This protocol was designed to train a machine learning algorithm to use a combination of imaging parameters derived from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in a rat model of breast cancer bone metastases to detect early metastatic disease and predict subsequent progression to macrometastases. Biology Isolation of Human Ventricular Cardiomyocytes from Vibratome-Cut Myocardial Slices Dominik J. Fiegle1, Tilmann Volk1,2, Thomas Seidel1,2 1Institute of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, 2Muscle Research Center Erlangen (MURCE), Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg Presented is a protocol for the isolation of human and animal ventricular cardiomyocytes from vibratome-cut myocardial slices. High yields of calcium-tolerant cells (up to 200 cells/mg) can be obtained from small amounts of tissue (<50 mg). The protocol is applicable to myocardium exposed to cold ischemia for up to 36 h.