This paper presents the design and microfabrication of a vacuum-based cell holding device for single-cell immobilization and the use of the device in mouse zygote microinjection. The device contains many through-holes, constructed via two-sided glass wet etching and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-glass bonding. Experimental results of mouse zygote immobilization and microinjection demonstrate that...

The purple sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) genome sequence contains a complex repertoire of genes encoding innate immune recognition proteins and homologs of important vertebrate immune regulatory factors. To characterize how this immune system is deployed within an experimentally tractable, intact animal, we investigate the immune capability of the larval stage. Sea urchin embryos a...

During Xenopus laevis gastrulation, the basic body plan of the embryo is generated by movement of the marginal zone cells of the blastula into the blastocoel cavity. This morphogenetic process involves cell adhesion to the extracellular matrix protein fibronectin (FN). Regions of FN required for the attachment and migration of involuting marginal zone (IMZ) cells were analyzed in vitro using FN...

introduction: it has been shown that orexin peptides have a role in opioid withdrawal behaviors. orexin-expressing neurons that are present in the hypothalamic nuclei send dense projections to the locus coeruleus (lc). withdrawal syndrome is temporally associated with hyperactivity of lc neurons. however, lc neurons do not show withdrawalinduced hyperactivity in the brain slices from morphine-d...

An assay has been developed in which excision repair deficiency of xeroderma pigmentosum cells is transiently complemented, as measured by unscheduled DNA synthesis, by microinjection of cytoplasmic poly(A)+ RNA derived from HeLa cells. Four different complementation groups of xeroderma pigmentosum have been assayed. Groups A and G showed complementation, whereas groups D and F did not. Surviva...

A comprehensive understanding of coral reproduction and development is needed because corals are threatened in many ways by human activity. Major threats include the loss of their photosynthetic symbionts (Symbiodinium) caused by rising temperatures (bleaching), reduced ability to calcify caused by ocean acidification, increased storm severity associated with global climate change and an increa...

One of the advantages of studying zebrafish is the ease and speed of manipulating protein levels in the embryo. Morpholinos, which are synthetic oligonucleotides with antisense complementarity to target RNAs, can be added to the embryo to reduce the expression of a particular gene product. Conversely, processed mRNA can be added to the embryo to increase levels of a gene product. The vehicle fo...