细胞功能测定

Analyzing phenotypic effects in embryos produced with directed gene manipulation is a major challenge for developmental biologists who are trained in molecular techniques but who are not well-versed in embryology. Analysis techniques that preserve the three-dimensional (3-D) ...

For topographical (surface) analysis of developing embryos, investigators typically rely on scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to provide the surface detail not attainable with light microscopy. Although it provides beautiful surface detail, SEM is an expensive and time-cons ...

In our efforts to use confocal laser scanning microscopy for study of organogenesisstage rodent embryos, we have developed fixation and clearing methods to allow optical sectioning through embryos with thickness approaching 1 mm (z-axis). We have combined fixation and clearing meth ...

A major conceptual breakthrough has occurred in the field of developmental morphogenesis in the past decade. It is now clear that molecular mechanisms at the external cell surface and within the surrounding extracellular matrix are fundamental to embryogenesis. Adhesion receptor ...

The use of the confocal microscope to study living Xenopus eggs affords the opportunity to obtain four-dimensional (4-D) data (three-dimensional data over time) throughout early development of these large cells. Microscopy of living cells often reveals important information about ...

The development of a complex multicellular organism from a single-celled zygote requires that the protein structures encoded in the DNA of the organism’s genome be expressed in specified cells at specified levels, contingent on specific signals generated at specific stages of develo ...

Development of tissues and organs relies on the constant interplay of intracellular events and molecules in the microenvironment of the cells. Dynamics of patterning of molecules in a spatiotemporal manner become important in understanding any developing system. Immunohistoc ...

Cardiovascular anomalies are the most common birth defects in man, accounting for 0.5–1% of live births. They are typically classified according to the affected segment of the heart. The complexity of an anomaly, its relationship to other cardiac structures, and its physiologic consequen ...

The axial skeleton represents one product of the metameric segregation of the mesoderm in the developing embryo. The mechanisms underlying this pattern formation remain poorly understood. Genetic alterations, either resulting from spontaneous mutation or as a result of xenobio ...

In this overview, we examine approaches to the embryological development of the craniofacial region of avian and rodent embryos. By craniofacial region we mean: externally, the face and head, excluding the caudal pharyngeal arches; internally, the brain, skull, jaws, and facial skeleton, ...

The process of gastrulation occurs during the early embryogenesis of vertebrates, immediately following the phase of cleavage and when the embryo is at the blastula stage. Gastrulation results in the formation of the primitive gut or archenteron. With the initial formation of the archen ...

In situ hybridization of nucleotide sequence to Drosophila melanogaster interphase polytene chromosomes was initially developed by Pardue, who has published an extensive account of Drosophila polytene chromosomes and hybridization to these chromosomes (1). The procedure, ...

When combined with molecular analysis and immunocytological localization, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) represents one of the most direct and precise experimental tools in current biological research (1-4). Direct visualization and in situ detection fill the gap b ...

In the 1930s, the discovery of a simple method for the isolation and detailed microscopic observation of the banded structures that lie within the nuclei of salivary gland cells of Drosophila melanogaster was soon followed by the realization that these structures were in fact a highly amplif ...

We have had a long term interest in the neuropathogenesis of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-associated neurological diseases. Neurological disease is a prominent feature of HIV-1 infection, usually occurring during the late stages of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome ( ...

The successful implementation of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) has provided a unique means to allow couples suffering from severe male infertility to achieve their reproductive goals. If the infertile man has a germ cell in the ejaculate or retrievable from the reproductive ...

Whole chromosome painting libraries (WCPLs) have provided a very powerful tool to cytogeneticists. The technique allows the painting of specific chromosomes in metaphase spreads and in interphase nuclei (1-4). The usefulness of WCPLs is particularly evident in identifying the chr ...

Since the first description of the technique of in situ hybridization to detect specific mRNA species on tissue sections, a variety of methods have been employed. Preparation of tissue and cells ranges from the use of frozen sections, which show good preservation of mRNA but poor morphology, to st ...

Although largely replaced by the use of fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) in animal and human molecular cytogenetics, the technique of radioactive in situ hybridization (RISH) still has some uses. Using practicable exposure times for autoradiographs of 3–4 wk, RISH is approx 50 tim ...

Since the early analyses of gene expression in the Drosophila embryo (1), whole-mount in situ hybridization has become one of the most powerful and versatile tools in developmental biology. The ability to visualize a gene’s expression both in time and space is a necessary first step in investiga ...