细胞技术

In this chapter, the two basic principal techniques of molecular cytogenetics are outlined, i.e., fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and primed in situ hybridization (PRINS). Basic protocols are provided, which can be varied and adapted according to specific application(s).

Molecular cytogenetics is a new branch of chromosome research that is just is just over 25 years old. Current applications of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) in diagnostics and research are summarized in this chapter. An overview of both DNA- and RNA-based in situ hybridization is pr ...

Comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) is a molecular cytogenetic technique developed for the analysis of chromosome imbalance in tumors and constitutional chromosome abnormalities. It is based on the analysis of genomic DNA and has the advantage over conventional karyotypi ...

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis for single gene disorders is usually performed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methodologies modified for use in single cells. At present, single cell PCR tests require costly and time-consuming development and validation of hig ...

Transient overexpression of wild-type or mutant cell cycle regulatory factors is a quick and relatively easy means to derive important information regarding the function of the respective factor in regulating cell cycle checkpoint pathways. The general approach for these studies is ...

Injuries to the peripheral nervous system affect 1 in 1,000 individuals each year. The implication of sustaining such an injury is considerable with loss of sensory and/or motor function. The economic implications too are extensive running into millions of pounds (or dollars) annually for ...

This chapter is intended to provide a summary of the current materials used in cell encapsulation technology as well as methods for evaluating the performance of cells encapsulated in a polymeric matrix. In particular, it describes the experimental procedure to prepare a hydrogel matrix b ...

Increasingly, in vitro experiments are being used to evaluate the cell compatibility of novel biomaterials. Single cell cultures have been used to determine how well cells attach, grow, and exhibit characteristic functions on these materials and the outcome of such tests is generally acc ...

The development of hair follicle organ culture techniques is a significant milestone in cutaneous biology research. The hair follicle, or more accurately the “pilo-sebaceous unit”, encapsulates all the important physiologic processes found in the human body; controlled cell grow ...

Three-dimensional organotypic cultures of human urinary tract tissue have been established as intact and reconstituted tissues, with the latter generated by combining cultured normal human urothelial (NHU) cells with an appropriate stroma. Organoids may be maintained at an air– ...

Collagen gels provide a versatile and widely used substrate for three-dimensional (3D) cell culture. Here we describe how cell-seeded Type-I collagen gels can be adapted to provide powerful 3D models to support a wide range of research applications where cell/substrate alignment, dens ...

The impact that nanotechnology may have on life and medical sciences is immense and includes novel therapies as much as novel diagnostic and imaging tools, often offering the possibility to combine the two. It is, therefore, of the essence to understand and control the interactions that nanoma ...

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a non-destructive, non-invasive imaging modality conceptually similar to ultrasound imaging but uses near-infrared radiation rather than sound. It is attracting interest throughout the medical community as a tool for ophthalmic scanning ...

Osteoblasts are the cells that contribute to the formation and function of bone tissue. Knowledge of their biology is important to understanding of the normal processes of bone repair, the development of diseases affecting bone tissue, and to the investigation of approaches to improve bone ...

Cell culture in two dimensions has been routinely and diligently undertaken in thousands of laboratories worldwide for the past four decades. However, the culture of cells in two dimensions is arguably primitive and does not reproduce the anatomy or physiology of a tissue for informative or u ...

The production of user-defined 3D microstructures from biocompatible and biodegradable materials via free-form fabrication is an important step to create off-the-shelf technologies to be used as tissue engineering scaffolds. One method of achieving this is the microstereoli ...

There are several types of bioreactors currently available for the culture of orthopaedic tissue engineered constructs. These vary from the simple to the complex in design and culture. Preparation of samples for bioreactors varies depending on the system being used. This chapter prese ...

It is becoming clear that the nano/microtopography of a biomaterial in vivo is of first importance in influencing focal adhesion formation and subsequent cellular behaviour. When considering next-generation biomaterials, where the material’s ability to elicit a regulated cell r ...

Here we describe a method for imaging the position of nanoparticles within a 3D tissue-engineered model using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). The ability to track diffusion of nanoparticles in vitro is an important part of trans-dermal and trans-mucosal drug delivery devel ...

A broad range of technologies have been developed to enable three dimensional (3D) cell culture. Few if any however are adaptable for routine everyday use in a straightforward and cost effective manner. Alvetex� is a rigid highly porous polystyrene scaffold designed specifically to enable ...