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If you can a prepared slide of an insect pupa, the autofluorescence allows fun 3D viewing. With wide field you just see the outside of the pupa, but with Confocal sectioning the insect inside appears. Then you can reconstruct the animal with max projection are really sense the whole body structure. And no dyes or bleaching or such to be concerned with.
This site has 200 slides on sale for $89 with a few examples of larval forms but many more that could be fun to play with. http://store.amscope.com/ps200.html Can't beat the price.
Mike Ignatius
Molecular Probes, Life Technologies
-----Original Message-----
From: Confocal Microscopy List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Casey Laris
Sent: Friday, January 28, 2011 11:39 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Simple animal demo specimen ideas
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I've done this kind of demo with zerbrafish. We did it with transfected live
animals expressing GFP in the heart. It was fun watching the beating heart
under video rate fluorescence at low power - maybe 4X - 10X. UV excitation
should work for autofluorescence too. Confocal isn't exactly required but
this is a definite crowd pleaser if you have access to something similar.
I agree that cardiomyocytes with Fluo-4 would be a good idea too. A process
connected to a beating heart seems an accessible concept for the local
community at large. Here is a link to a video showing transients in action.
http://youtu.be/4Gi7HS3rmwc?hd=1 <http://youtu.be/4Gi7HS3rmwc?hd=1>
I apologize that the tone of the video is on the commercial side for this
forum - and I do have personal interest in the company - but the first 45
seconds show nice examples of calcium transients from cardiomyocytes. The
preps aren't trivial here either but it's something a heart lab should be
able to pull together for you.
Best,
Casey Laris | Vala Sciences
858.461.6862 | www.valasciences.com
[log in to unmask]
On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 10:06 AM, Glen MacDonald
<[log in to unmask]>wrote:
> *****
> To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
> http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
> *****
>
> Cardiomyocytes will also load with Fluo-4 AM or Fluo-3 AM, in addition to
> the usual organelle suspects from the Molecular Probes catalog, such as
> Mitotrackers.
> An anesthetized zebrafish larva or xenopus tadpole in a blob of 1-2%
> agarose will show blood flow, heart, then try reflection or
> autofluorescence. You might find transgenics. I can give you a list of
> labels specific for neuromast sensory organs, inner ear and nasal
> epithelium.
>
> Regards,
> Glen
> Glen MacDonald
> Core for Communication Research
> Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center
> Box 357923
> University of Washington
> Seattle, WA 98195-7923 USA
> (206) 616-4156
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Jan 28, 2011, at 9:29 AM, Boswell, Carl A - (cboswell) wrote:
>
> > Primary culture of neonatal rat cardiomyocytes (or chick embryos, etc.)
> will beat spontaneously, either individually, or as sheets if dense enough.
> GFP labeling of the right structural protein will illustrate the striations
> in the live cells. Very bizarre to see under the microscope.
> > C
> >
> >
> > Carl A. Boswell, Ph.D.
> > Molecular and Cellular Biology
> > Univ. of Arizona
> > 520-954-7053
> > FAX 520-621-3709
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Confocal Microscopy List [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> On Behalf Of John Runions
> > Sent: Friday, January 28, 2011 10:11 AM
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Simple animal demo specimen ideas
> >
> > *****
> > To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
> > http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
> > *****
> >
> > Dear microscopists,
> >
> > Each year at our university Science Bazaar we demonstrate our imaging
> 'prowess' and equipment to the community at large (adults and kids). This
> event is always well received and the biggest attraction of all is usually
> the dissecting microscopes because we let the kids look at their disgusting
> fingernails and they like that. SEMs work well because we can show head
> lice and rats tongue and... well you are probably starting to see a theme.
> >
> > The problem is giving a really good demo with the confocal microscopes -
> we show GFP labelled organelles moving around inside living cells and demos
> of 3D reconstruction but this doesn't really seem to capture the kids
> imaginations.
> >
> > Does anybody have a favorite organism or staining technique that is
> simple and effective as a demo in a situation where lots of people are
> moving through fairly quickly.
> >
> > I appreciate your suggestions.
> >
> > John
> >
> > --
> > John Runions, PhD
> > Senior Lecturer in Cell Biology
> > Oxford Brookes University
> > School of Life Sciences
> > Gipsy Lane, Oxford
> > OX3 0BP
> > UK
> >
> > 01865 483 964
> > http://www.brookes.ac.uk/lifesci/runions/HTMLpages/index.html!
> >
>
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