Keeley Garvey, Week 5, Healthy Cells


Yul, Shawn, and I working in the tissue culture room
Week 5 was the determining week for me; would we have enough cells to inject into the next two groups of mice or would I have to go back to Jersey with minimal data? Luckily, about five different sets of plates have been growing well and things are looking pretty optimistic. Throughout the week we continued to change the media in the plates and kept a close eye on them to make sure their growth was progressing. In the beginning of the week we noticed that one set of female cells from the 14th of June were growing too well. To stop the cells from growing too much to the point of overcrowding, Yul replated them and their numbers greatly decreased. We did this because the other cells were not growing as quickly since they were fresher than the cells from the 14th of June. Now, the number of cells in each plate, no matter what day they were plated, is pretty consistent. In addition to changing media, we have been testing behaviour almost every day; our data following Monday from these two groups is characterized as acute pain because it is so soon after the last injection of paclitaxel (Monday). Just like last week, the females are more sensitive to touch (mechanical allodynia) than the males. On Friday, we dissected 10 female mice and plated their cells. We hope that they will reach 90% confluency so there will be enough cells for injection on the 18th. Additionally, Yul took Shawn and I to a Polish market where I bought a lot of food and candy- this was a successful attempt to make the people I work with enjoy Polish food. 
6-14-17 Female BMSCs (30 days after plated) at 10X
6-14-17 Female BMSCs (30 days after plated) at 4X












6-29-17 Male BMSCs (12 days after plated) at 4X
6-29-17 Male BMSCs (12 days after plated) at 10X











7-6-17 Female BMSCs (5 days after plated) at 4X
7-6-17 Female BMSCs (5 days after plated) at 10X











7-6-17 Male BMSCs (5 days after plated) at 4X
7-6-17 Male BMSCs (5 days after plated) at 10X











Though week 5 was not as exciting in the lab, I still managed to have fun in North Carolina. On Tuesday, Shawn and I went ice skating; that was Shawn's first time ice skating so I had to teach him the ropes. Like any other time I skate away from home, I came out with cuts and scars around my ankles because the rental hockey skates did not fit as well as my pair back in Jersey. Shawn and I also went ice skating on Saturday after I got back from getting tacos in Elon with Deja. Although it wasn't the best idea because my legs were still bleeding, I had a great time because Shawn was now able to skate. Sadly, my PI left again for conferences and will not be back before I leave, so I am not sure if I am going to be able to present my work in a lab meeting. 
Shawn,  me, Dr. Ji, and his daughter, Jasmine 

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