Metal box to store tools: Moria Instrument Case (Cat. No. 20311-21, InterFocus/Fine Science Tools, £75).
Scissors for decapitation: Student Surgical Scissors Straight Sharp-Blunt, 14.5 cm (Cat. No. 91401-14, InterFocus/Fine Science Tools, £21.5).
Fine scissors for skin: Extra Fine Bonn Scissors Straight, 8.5 cm (Cat. No. 14084-08, InterFocus/Fine Science Tools, £67).
Small serrated scissors for skull: Vannas Tübingen Spring Scissors Straight Serrated, 8.5 cm (Cat. No. 15070-08, InterFocus/Fine Science Tools, £242).
Fine tweezers to detach meninges from brain: Dumont #5 Fine Forceps Biology Inox, (Cat. No. 11254-20, InterFocus/Fine Science Tools, £42).
Forceps to separate skull: Micro-Adson Forceps Serrated (Cat. No. 11018-12, InterFocus/Fine Science Tools, £34).
Blade to cut frontal part of the brain and cerebellum: Scalpel Handle #4 (Cat. No. 10004-13, InterFocus/Fine Science Tools, £12) and sterile blades (e.g. 24, Swann Morton).
Spatula to remove brain from skull: Probe and Spatula, 14 cm (Cat. No. 10090-13, InterFocus/Fine Science Tools, £83.5).
Spoon to immerse brain in ACSF slush: Moria MC17 Perforated Spoon, 20 mm tip diameter (Cat. No. 10370-17, InterFocus/Fine Science Tools, £136).
Syringe and needle to separate and mark cut slices from brain: 1 mL syringe with a stainless steel needle (e.g. brown - BD Microlance 3, 26G, 0.45x13 mm, Cat. No. 303800). Can be carefully washed and reused.
Brush to move and reposition the slices: Major Brushes size 2.
Superglue (Universal, Loctite) to glue the brain on the magnetized block of the vibratome.
Double edge blades for vibratome (Cat. No. 74-0002, Personna).
Cotton buds and Acetone to clean the double edge blades before slicing.
Filter paper, 70 mm diameter (Cat. No. 11556873, Fisher).
Glass Pasteur pipette to make a slice collector to pick and transport brain slices (Cat. No. D810, Poulten & Graf).
Ice Pan, 2.5 L (Cat. No. 12318687, Bel-Art).
Disposal bag (Cat. No. 86.1197, Sarstedt).
Plastic tray, silicon mat, 20 mL syringe, and sterile stainless steel needles for fixing the mouse during intracardial perfusion.
Volumetric flasks for solutions: class A NS 24/29 1000 mL PE (Cat. No. 612-3819, VWR) and class A NS 29/32 2000 mL PE (Cat. No. 612-3820, VWR).
Magnetic stir bars (Cowie Technology PTFE Cylindrical Stir Bar Box Set, £33).
Glass beaker, 400 mL, for slicing solution (Borosilicate glass with spout, Cat. No. 213-0046, VWR).
Glass beaker, 150 mL, one for each recovery chamber (Borosilicate glass with spout, Cat. No. 213-1123, VWR).
Glass beaker, 50 mL, to collect the head after decapitation (Borosilicate glass with spout, Cat. No. 213-1121, VWR).
Crystallizing dish without spout, 150 mL, Duran Borosilicate Glass, 80 mm diameter, 45 mm height (Cat. No. 11786582, Fisher Scientific UK).
Petri dish, Duran Glass, 100 mm diameter, 20 mm height (Cat. No. 10796771, Fisher Scientific UK).
Glass bottles, 250 mL, DIN thread with cap (Cat. No. 215-1515, VWR).
Falcon tube, 50 mL.
Microfilter candles to diffuse carbogen into solutions: 6 mm diameter, porosity P3, narrow glass tube (Cat. No. ROBU18103, Robuglas).
Ice-Cream Maker to prepare slush (Magimix).
Blender.
Spatulas and plastic containers to weigh salts.
Funnel.
Tape to label instruments and glassware.
Clamp hoses for up to 10 mm diameter tubing (Cat. No. 229-0609, Buerkle).
Sodium Chloride (NaCl, Cat. No. S7653-1KG, Sigma).
N-Methyl-D-Glucamine (NMDG, Cat. No. 66930-500G, Sigma).
Potassium Chloride (KCl, Cat. No. P9333-500G, Sigma).
Sodium Phosphate Monobasic (NaH2PO4, Cat. No. S8282-500G, Sigma).
Sodium Bicarbonate (NaHCO3, Cat. No. S6297-250G, Sigma).
4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazineethanesulfonic acid (HEPES, Cat. No. H3375-500G, Sigma).
D-Glucose (Cat. No. G7528-250G, Sigma).
Sucrose (Cat. No. S0389-500G, Sigma).
Sodium L-Ascorbate (Cat. No. 11140-250G, Sigma).
Thiourea (Cat. No. T7875-100G, Sigma).
Sodium Pyruvate (Cat. No. P2256-100G, Sigma).
Myo-Inositol (Cat. No. I5125-500G, Sigma).
N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine (Cat. No. A9165-100G, Sigma).
L-Ascorbic Acid (Cat. No. A92902-100G, Sigma).
Taurine (Cat. No. 93019-100MG, Sigma).
Calcium Chloride (CaCl2, 1 M solution, Cat. No. 21114-1L, Honeywell Fluka).
Magnesium Chloride (MgCl2, 1 M solution, Cat. No. 63020-1L, Honeywell Fluka).
Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate (MgSO4.7H2O, Cat. No. 63138-250G, Sigma).
Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH, 5 M solution, Cat. No. S8263-150ML, Sigma).
Hydrochloric Acid (HCl, 5 M solution, Cat. No. 10615882, J/4310/17, Fisher).
Ultrapure ddH2O (or purification system to obtain it) to prepare solutions and clean glassware. In case of doubt, purchase Molecular Biology Grade Water that is autoclaved sterile, reverse osmosis purified to 18 MOhms, bacterial filtered 0.2 microns, DNAse/RNAse/Protease free (Cat. No. 20-9103-00, Severn Biotech).
Carbogen source.
Precision scale.
Micropipettes (1000 μL, 250 μL, 100 μL, 10 μL).
Electronic pipette Easypet 3 (Cat. No. 4430000018, Eppendorf, £324).
Mini vortex mixer (VWR).
pH meter (Mettler Toledo).
Osmometer and Sample discs (Cat. No. SS-033, ELITech Group Biomedical Systems).
Osmolality Standard Vials to calibrate osmometer: Optimole 100 mmol/kg (Cat. No. NC9041262, Fisher), 290 mmol/kg (Cat. No. NC9306976, Fisher), 1000 mmol/kg (Cat. No. NC9306975, Fisher), from ELITech Group Biomedical Systems.
Fridge and Freezer to store solutions and some of the components needed to prepare them.
Heating blocks (QBD4, Grant Instruments) for bringing solutions to a specific temperature.
Ventilation hood and anaesthetic chamber with isoflurane.
Vibratome (Leica VT1200S or Campden Ci7000smz-2).
Plastic bottles with ddH2O or 70% ethanol solution for cleaning.
Rack for drying glassware.
Oven to bake and sterilize glassware (Binder Oven E28, Wolf Labs, £544).
NIGHTSEA Dual Fluorescent Protein Flashlight - Cyan and Green LEDs, to visualize expression of viral injections in acute slices (Cat. No. DFP-CG, CN Technical Services Ltd, £795).
Borosilicate standard wall with filament capillary glass, 1.5 mm outer diameter, 0.86 mm inner diameter, 100 mm length (Cat. No. 300057 - GC150F-10, Pack of 225 capillary glass, Harvard Apparatus via MultiChannel Systems, €46 each pack).
PC-100 Micropipette Puller (Narishige via Digitimer, £2,289) for pulling patch pipettes.
Pipette Holder (new BNC-type, 1.5 mm outer diameter, Cat. No. 895229 HEKA), Electrode Connector Pin (Cat. No. 895226, HEKA), back end O-Ring (pack of 10, Cat. No. 895232, HEKA), Holder replacement cap set containing 1x Screw Cap, 1x Distance Sleeve, 2x O-rings (for 1.5 mm outer diameter, Cat. No. 895098, HEKA), O-rings for Cap (pack of 10, Cat. No. 895017, HEKA), Ground Connector Pin (pack of 10, Cat. No. 895104, HEKA).
Silver wire, 0.35 mm diameter, 5 m length (Cat. No. AG005145, GoodFellow, £95).
Ag-AgCl pellet and wire electrodes: Model E206 pellet electrode 2.0 mm diameter, Electrode: 2.0 x 2.5 mm (diameter x length) - Wire: 0.25 x 70 mm (diameter x length) (Cat. No. 641310, Warner Instruments via MultiChannel Systems, €20 each).
Micropipette 2-20 μL (Cat. No. 17014412, Mettler Toledo, Rainin) and Microloader Tips (Cat. No. 5242956003, Eppendorf) for backfilling patch pipettes with intracellular solution prior to recording.
Platinum wire to make the harps to hold the slices in the recording chamber, 0.1 m length, 1 mm diameter, High Purity: 99.99+%, Temper: As drawn (Cat. No. 038-889-51, PT005155 Platinum Wire, Goodfellow, £299).
SliceScope Pro 1000 or alternative (Scientifica).
pE-100 LED, 490 nm and 565 nm, to visualize EYFP and tdTomato in the slices (CoolLED via Scientifica, £850).
Motorised micromanipulator (PatchStar, Scientifica).
Patch-clamp headstage and amplifier (EPC 800, HEKA).
PCIe-6353 board (National Instruments).
CMOS Camera, USB3.0 Industrial 1.3MP B/W Camera (E2V) EV76C560AB, global shutter (Cat. No. MQ013MGE2, Lambda Photometrics Ltd, £355).
Micrometers to calibrate the pixel size of the images obtained with the mounted camera: 20 mm microscope scale with crossline (Cat. No. R1L1S5P, ThorLabs), 10 mm Stage Micrometer with 50 μm Divisions (Cat. No. R1L3S1P, ThorLabs), 1 mm Stage Micrometer with 10 μm Divisions (Cat. No. R1L3S2P, ThorLabs).
Copper Mesh (Cat. No. PSY406, Thorlabs) and Neodymium Magnetic Rings with 20 mm hole (Cat. No. 792-4565, Eclipse via RS components) to cover the faraday cage of the rig. Needs to be grounded.
Persistaltic perfusion system PPS2 (MultiChannel Systems).
Tubing for the Scientifica Heater (the one that coils on top of the heating element): Polyethylene tubing, PE-10, 100 feet (Cat. No. 640751, Multichannel Systems).
Manometer to monitor the air pressure applied to the patch pipette (AP-34, Keyence).
DS3 Isolated Current Stimulator (Digitimer, £735.2) and Electrode Holder (Digitimer, Model H-13).