Dear All
Through searching database, I've read published protocols regarding isolation of vagal sensory ganglia cell in guinea pigs and rats. However, due to the small size of mouse vagal sensory ganglia, I still can not access to a protocol for harvesting mouse vagal jugular-nodose ganglia cells. Can anyone provide a simple, step-by-step protocol for the harvest and isolation of mouse jugular-nodose ganglia cells?
Many thanks.
Hi Neetu,
Thanks for your help. Actually, I've learnt a lot from the protocol you provided, especially for the harvesting of guinea pigs' ganglia cells. But it is still challenging when applied to mice.
Here is a brief protocol for dissecting the nodose ganglia of a mouse.
Remove salivary glands; identify the trachea and carotid artery, the vagus nerve (which is parallel to the carotid artery); and the masticatory muscles. Remove the trachea to allow access to the carotid and the adhering vague nerve. Completely isolate the carotid from the surrounding tissues, without cutting the vagus. Remove the masticatory muscles to expose the glossopharengeal nerve, which meets the vagus near the location of the nodose ganglion. Remove the glossopharengeal nerve. The removal of the muscles exposes the skull, which is cut in the middle and the bones are removed, which exposes the nodose ganglion. Cutting the proximal connections of the ganglion enables its removal.
See the attached pictures (from the MSc thesis of my student Eli Shmueli). See also the attached article.
Hi prof. Hanani,
Many thanks for your answer. It seems this protocol works pretty well in practice. I will try and give a feedback later on.
Best regards,
Zhangfu
Hi prof. Hanani,
Hi Zhangfu,
I would like to harvest nodose ganglia from adult mice, but I have a doubt.
It is not clear to me how to reach the nodose ganglia once the skull has been exposed.
Could you please explain where the cut of the skull has to be performed to remove the bones?
Looking at the image in the following link I have the impression that the Nodose ganglion is outside the skull, and this is confusing to me because in my model I see something that could resemble the nodose ganglia reported in this picture :
https://www.google.be/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.biologydiscussion.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2016%2F08%2Fclip_image018-8.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biologydiscussion.com%2Fzoology%2Fdissection%2Fdissection-of-rat-with-diagram-zoology%2F45221&docid=OTBkeFmlO5c-eM&tbnid=tdZjgjOft-JTKM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwiUn4DNqorXAhVMWxoKHcbcB-kQMwhsKDwwPA..i&w=426&h=355&bih=647&biw=1366&q=vagus%20ganglion%20mouse&ved=0ahUKEwiUn4DNqorXAhVMWxoKHcbcB-kQMwhsKDwwPA&iact=mrc&uact=8
If you have already performed this technique, could you please help me?
Thank you in advance,
Marialetizia
The nodose ganglion is outside the skull. The vagus nerve exits the skull thorough a foramen, and the ganglion is very close to this foramen. The round bone above the ganglion is the tympatic bulla.