Name: a high-throughput in situ method for estimation of hepatocyte nuclear ploidy in mice
Uploaded: 2020-04-19T13:00:00.000+00:00
Duration: 8 min 44 s
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about A High-Throughput In Situ Method for Estimation of Hepatocyte Nuclear Ploidy in Mice at JoVE.com

This work was funded by the Spanish MINECO Government grants BFU2014-58686-P (LAN) and SAF-2017-84708-R (DJB). LAN was supported by a national MINECO Ram&#243;n y Cajal Fellowship RYC-2012-11700 and Plan GenT award (Comunitat Valenciana, CDEI-05/20-C), and FMN by a regional ValI+D studentship of the Valencian Generalitat ACIF/2016/020. RP would like to acknowledge Prof. Ewa K. Paluch for funding. We thank Dr. Alicia Mart&#237;nez-Romero (CIPF Cytometry service) for help with the IN Cell Analyzer platform.

<ol>
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W., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Circadian+clock+regulates+hepatic+polyploidy+by+modulating+Mkp1-Erk1/2+signaling+pathway.">Circadian clock regulates hepatic polyploidy by modulating Mkp1-Erk1/2 signaling pathway.</a> Nature Communications. 8 (1), 2238 (2017).</li><li>Celton-Morizur, S., Merlen, G., Couton, D., Margall-Ducos, G., Desdouets, C. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=The+insulin/Akt+pathway+controls+a+specific+cell+division+program+that+leads+to+generation+of+binucleated+tetraploid+liver+cells+in+rodents.">The insulin/Akt pathway controls a specific cell division program that leads to generation of binucleated tetraploid liver cells in rodents.</a> Journal of Clinical Investigation. 119 (7), 1880-1887 (2009).</li><li>Wang, M. J., Chen, F., Lau, J. T. 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P. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Hepatocyte+polyploidization+and+its+association+with+pathophysiological+processes.">Hepatocyte polyploidization and its association with pathophysiological processes.</a> Cell Death &amp; Disease. 8 (5), e2805 (2017).</li><li>Gentric, G., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Oxidative+stress+promotes+pathologic+polyploidization+in+nonalcoholic+fatty+liver+disease.">Oxidative stress promotes pathologic polyploidization in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.</a> Journal of Clinical Investigation. 125 (3), 981-992 (2015).</li><li>Toyoda, H. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Changes+to+hepatocyte+ploidy+and+binuclearity+profiles+during+human+chronic+viral+hepatitis.">Changes to hepatocyte ploidy and binuclearity profiles during human chronic viral hepatitis.</a> Gut. 54 (2), 297-302 (2005).</li><li>Miyaoka, Y., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Hypertrophy+and+Unconventional+Cell+Division+of+Hepatocytes+Underlie+Liver+Regeneration.">Hypertrophy and Unconventional Cell Division of Hepatocytes Underlie Liver Regeneration.</a> Current Biology. 22 (13), 1166-1175 (2012).</li><li>Bou-Nader, M., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Polyploidy+spectrum:+a+new+marker+in+HCC+classification.">Polyploidy spectrum: a new marker in HCC classification.</a> Gut. , (2019).</li><li>Danielsen, H., Lindmo, T., Reith, A. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=A+method+for+determining+ploidy+distributions+in+liver+tissue+by+stereological+analysis+of+nuclear+size+calibrated+by+flow+cytometric+DNA+analysis.">A method for determining ploidy distributions in liver tissue by stereological analysis of nuclear size calibrated by flow cytometric DNA analysis.</a> Cytometry. 7 (5), 475-480 (1986).</li><li>Guidotti, J. E., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Liver+Cell+Polyploidization:+A+Pivotal+Role+for+Binuclear+Hepatocytes.">Liver Cell Polyploidization: A Pivotal Role for Binuclear Hepatocytes.</a> Journal of Biological Chemistry. 278 (21), 19095-19101 (2003).</li><li>Severin, E., Meier, E. M., Willers, R. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Flow+cytometric+analysis+of+mouse+hepatocyte+ploidy+-+I.+Preparative+and+mathematical+protocol.">Flow cytometric analysis of mouse hepatocyte ploidy - I. 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N. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Relationship+of+hepatocyte+ploidy+levels+with+body+size+and+growth+rate+in+mammals.">Relationship of hepatocyte ploidy levels with body size and growth rate in mammals.</a> Genome. 44 (3), 350-360 (2001).</li><li>Tanami, S., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Dynamic+zonation+of+liver+polyploidy.">Dynamic zonation of liver polyploidy.</a> Cell and Tissue Research. 368 (2), 405-410 (2017).</li><li>Kudryavtsev, B. N., Kudryavtseva, M. V., Sakuta, G. A., Stein, G. I. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Human+hepatocyte+polyploidization+kinetics+in+the+course+of+life+cycle.">Human hepatocyte polyploidization kinetics in the course of life cycle.</a> Virchows Archiv B Cell Pathology Including Molecular Pathology. 64 (1), 387-393 (1993).</li><li>Gentric, G., Celton-Morizur, S., Desdouets, C. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Polyploidy+and+liver+proliferation.">Polyploidy and liver proliferation.</a> Clinics and Research in Hepatology and Gastroenterology. 36 (1), 29-34 (2012).</li><li>Uhl&#233;n, M., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Tissue-based+map+of+the+human+proteome.">Tissue-based map of the human proteome.</a> Science. 347 (6220), 1260419 (2015).</li></ol>

The authors have nothing to disclose.

A high-content, high-throughput approach for the analysis of tissue remodeling and estimation of hepatocyte nuclear ploidy in the murine liver is described. Once familiar with the procedure, a user can process, image and analyze multiple samples in a 3&#8722;5 day period, generating large testable datasets that provide a detailed signature of liver health. Given the simplicity of the sample preparation method, together with the large numbers of cells and tissue area analyzed (on average 14 mm2/sample), results are robust and highly reproducible. Automation of image capture and analysis also removes user error and potential bias from these important steps. An important innovation is the use of NPCs as an internal ploidy calibrator that enables relative assessment of hepatocyte nuclear DNA content both within and between samples. Incorporation of an HNF4&#945; labelling step is therefore key to providing this protocol with a unique technical advantage compared to previously published 2D methods3,12,22. In contrast, the relative simplicity of the methodology in comparison with 3D reconstruction workflows18 makes it technically less laborious and potentially more flexible.
Compared to the precision method of flow cytometry, an important caveat to extrapolating nuclear DNA content from 2D tissue sections, is the limited confidence that can be attributed to the categorization of individual nuclei with regards to ploidy status. Added to this is the inherent bias within SIA based approaches to overrepresent smaller ploidy subgroups due to subequatorial sampling. However, by normalizing data to an internal standard and taking a large population based approach, the error due to these effects is mitigated and comparable across samples. Hepatocytes are characterized by a highly rounded nuclear morphology, compared to for example NPCs, meaning they are particularly amenable to accurate estimation of DNA content based on nuclear cross-sectional area alone10,11,14,15,23. The SIA-based approach has been refined in this protocol to account both for nuclear circularity and DNA density by integrating measures of morphometry and mean Hoechst fluorescence intensity resulting in an estimated &#34;minimal DNA content&#34; descriptor for individual nuclei. Importantly, the use of NPCs as a 2&#8722;4N ploidy control provides an important internal standard for objective calibration and stratification of minimal nuclear DNA content, making the methodology described applicable to samples of any species, or format, given that an appropriate antibody for HNF4&#945; (or similar hepatocyte nuclear marker) can be sourced.
Although assessment of nuclear ploidy has been shown to provide useful signatures for liver disease progression10,13, in order to fully ascertain the diversity of ploidy changes within the liver it would be both desirable and necessary to adapt the described methodology to account for hepatocellular perimeter and thus cellular ploidy. Mapping of cellular ploidy has previously been achieved by labelling of the hepatocyte perimeter using markers such as beta catenin10,13,24, actin12,22 and cytokeratin10,11 in human and mouse liver samples. However, when this was tested after DDC injury, dramatic epithelial remodeling precluded reliable assessment of hepatocellular perimeter both by phalloidin (data not shown) or antibodies to beta catenin17. Hence, whilst this approach is feasible, it may not be applicable to all injury models, but if achieved would advance mapping of cellular ploidy as well as making estimates of hepatocyte size and number more accurate. It also remains plausible that by accounting for additional nuclear parameters, such as internuclear spacing (Figure 7C), mononuclear cells could be discriminated from &#34;simple&#34; binuclear hepatocytes, and that further segregation of &#34;complex&#34; binuclear cells could be achieved by radial measurements of the nuclei that their 2D masks contain.
Given that validated human HNF4&#945; antibodies exist for FFPE tissue25 and that internal calibration frees this methodology of any species-specific limitations, the protocol is almost immediately applicable to human samples. Thus, it has considerable potential to provide a benchmark for high-throughput analysis of hepatocyte nuclear ploidy and liver injury in human disease. Also, by multiplexing with other antibodies, this method can reveal new roles for particular hepatocyte subsets and their response to liver injury and disease. To this end, we have successfully combined the methodology with immunostaining for the proliferative nuclear marker Ki-67 (Figure 6), which enables useful information to be gleaned - including identification of non-proliferating 2N populations of NPCs for improved internal calibration of ploidy (Noon, unpublished data 2019). Hence, by coupling flexibility with the positional and quantitative data that the method provides, we suggest that its future applications will improve understanding of the role of polyploidy in the liver.

Hepatocytes in the mammalian liver can undergo stalled cytokinesis to produce binuclear cells, and DNA endoreplication to produce polyploid nuclei containing up to 16N DNA content. Overall cellular and nuclear ploidy increase during postnatal development, ageing and in response to diverse cellular stresses1. The process of polyploidization is dynamic and reversible2, although its precise biological function remains unclear3. Increased ploidy is associated with reduced proliferative capacity4, genetic diversity2, adaptation to chronic injury5 and cancer protection6. Hepatocyte ploidy alterations occur as a result of altered circadian rhythm7, and weaning8. Most notably, the ploidy profile of the liver is altered by injury and disease9, and compelling evidence suggests that specific ploidy changes, such as increased &#8805;8N nuclei or loss of 2N hepatocytes, provide useful signatures for tracking non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) progression3,10, or the differential impact of viral infections11.
In general terms, liver injury and regeneration are associated with increased hepatocyte cell size and nuclear area12, together with reduced overall numbers of hepatocytes, particularly those with 2N DNA content10,11. Parenchymal injury in the liver is also frequently accompanied by expansion of non-parenchymal cells (NPCs), including stromal myofibroblasts, inflammatory cells and bipotent liver progenitor cells. High-throughput methods that provide a quantitative cytological profile of parenchymal cell number and nuclear ploidy, whilst also accounting for changes in NPCs, therefore have considerable potential as research and clinical tools to track the response of the liver during injury and disease. Compelling recent in situ analysis of ploidy spectra in human samples of hepatocellular carcinoma also demonstrate that nuclear ploidy is dramatically increased within tumors and is specifically amplified in more aggressive tumor subtypes with reduced differentiation and loss of TP5313. Hence, there is a strong possibility that methodological advances in quantitative assessment of nuclear ploidy will assist in future prognostic profiling of liver cancer.
In this protocol, a flexible high-throughput methodology for the comparative analysis of mouse liver tissue sections is described, which provides detailed cytometric profiling of hepatocyte numbers, the NPC response and an internally calibrated method for estimating nuclear ploidy (Figure 1). Hepatocytes are distinguished from NPCs by hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 alpha (HNF4&#945;) immunolabelling, prior to characterization of nuclear size and nuclear morphometry. &#34;Minimal DNA content&#34; is estimated for all circular nuclear masks by integrating mean Hoechst 33342 intensity (a proxy for DNA density) with interpolated three-dimensional (3D) nuclear volume. Hepatocyte minimal DNA content is then calibrated using NPCs to generate a nuclear ploidy profile.
Image acquisition, nuclear segmentation and image analysis are performed using high-content imaging, enabling large areas of two-dimensional (2D) liver sections containing tens of thousands of cells to be screened. A custom-written program is provided for automated post-processing of high-content image analysis data to produce a sample-wide ploidy profile for all circular hepatocyte nuclei. This is performed using free to download software to calculate nuclear ploidy based on stereological image analysis (SIA)10,11,14,15. The SIA methodology has been previously validated by flow cytometry as an accurate, albeit laborious, method for estimating hepatocyte nuclear ploidy in the liver14, assuming circular nuclear morphology and a monotonic relationship between nuclear size and DNA content. In this protocol, both nuclear parameters are measured by assessment of nuclear morphometry and Hoechst 33342 labelling. Calculation of &#34;minimal DNA content&#34; for each nuclear mask is followed by calibration of hepatocyte nuclear ploidy using NPCs, which have a known 2&#8722;4N&#160;DNA content and therefore serve as a useful internal control.
Compared to conventional flow cytometry methods16 the approach described enables hepatocyte nuclear ploidy to be assessed in situ and does not require access to fresh tissue or disaggregation methods that can bias outcomes and be difficult to standardize. As with all SIA-based approaches, nuclear ploidy subclasses &#62;2N are underrepresented by 2D sampling due to the sectioning of larger nuclei outside of the equatorial plane. The tissue-wide ploidy profile also describes minimum DNA content for all circular hepatocyte nuclear masks, and does not directly discriminate between mononuclear hepatocytes and binuclear cells that have two discrete (&#34;non-touching&#34;) nuclei of the same ploidy. However, the simplicity of this protocol allows considerable scope for it to be adapted to account for additional parameters such as internuclear spacing or cell perimeter analysis, that would facilitate identification of binuclear cells providing a more detailed assessment of cellular ploidy.

<table><tbody><tr><td>3,5-diethoxycarboxynl-1,4-dihydrocollidine diet (DDC)</td><td>TestDiet</td><td>1810704</td><td>Modified LabDiet mouse diet 5015 with 0.1% DDC</td></tr><tr><td>Alexa Fluor 488 donkey anti-goat IgG (H+L)</td><td>Invitrogen</td><td>A11055</td><td>Dilution 1:500</td></tr><tr><td>Bovine Serum Albumin</td><td>Sigma-Aldrich</td><td>A7906</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Cryostat Leica CM1850 UV</td><td>Leica biosystems</td><td>CM1850 UV</td><td>Tissue sectioning</td></tr><tr><td>Fluorescent Mounting medium</td><td>Dako</td><td>S3023</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>GraphPad Prism</td><td>GraphPad Software</td><td>Prism 8</td><td>Statistical software for graphing data</td></tr><tr><td>Hoechst 33342</td><td>Sigma-Aldrich</td><td>B2261</td><td>Final concentration 5 &amp;micro;g/mL</td></tr><tr><td>IN Cell Analyzer 1000</td><td>GE Healthcare Bio-Sciences Corp</td><td></td><td>High-Content Cellular Imaging and Analysis System</td></tr><tr><td>MATLAB</td><td>MathWorks</td><td>R2019a</td><td>Data analytics software for automated analysis of nuclear ploidy</td></tr><tr><td>Microscope coverslides</td><td>VWR International</td><td>630-2864</td><td>Size of 24 x 60 mm</td></tr><tr><td>Microsoft Office Excel</td><td>Microsoft</td><td></td><td>Speadsheet software</td></tr><tr><td>OCT Tissue Tek</td><td>Pascual y Furi&amp;oacute;</td><td>4583</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Paraformaldehyde</td><td>Panreac AppliChem</td><td>141451.121</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Pen for immunostaining</td><td>Sigma-Aldrich</td><td>Z377821-1EA</td><td>5mm tip width</td></tr><tr><td>Polysine Microscope Slides</td><td>VWR International</td><td>631-0107</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Rabbit polyclonal Anti-HNF4&amp;alpha;</td><td>Thermo Fisher Scientific</td><td>PA5-79380</td><td>Dilution 1:250 (alternative)</td></tr><tr><td>Rabit polyclonal Anti-HNF4&amp;alpha;</td><td>Santa Cruz Biotechnology</td><td>sc-6556</td><td>Dilution 1:200 (antibody used in the study)</td></tr><tr><td>Tween 20</td><td>Sigma-Aldrich</td><td>P5927</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

a high-throughput in situ method for estimation of hepatocyte nuclear ploidy in mice

When the liver is injured, hepatocyte numbers decrease, while cell size, nuclear size and ploidy increase. The expansion of non-parenchymal cells such as cholangiocytes, myofibroblasts, progenitors and inflammatory cells also indicate chronic liver damage, tissue remodeling and disease progression. In this protocol, we describe a simple high-throughput approach for calculating changes in the cellular composition of the liver that are associated with injury, chronic disease and cancer. We show how information extracted from two-dimensional (2D) tissue sections can be used to quantify and calibrate hepatocyte nuclear ploidy within a sample and enable the user to locate specific ploidy subsets within the liver in situ. Our method requires access to fixed/frozen liver material, basic immunocytochemistry reagents and any standard high-content imaging platform. It serves as a powerful alternative to standard flow cytometry techniques, which require disruption of freshly collected tissue, loss of spatial information and potential disaggregation bias.

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about A High-Throughput In Situ Method for Estimation of Hepatocyte Nuclear Ploidy in Mice at JoVE.com

A High-Throughput In Situ Method for Estimation of Hepatocyte Nuclear Ploidy in Mice

We present a robust, cost-effective, and flexible method for measuring changes in hepatocyte number and nuclear ploidy within fixed/cryopreserved tissue samples that does not require flow cytometry. Our approach provides a powerful sample-wide signature of liver cytology ideal for tracking the progression of liver injury and disease.

When the liver is injured, hepatocyte numbers decrease, while cell size, nuclear size and ploidy increase. The expansion of non-parenchymal cells such as ...

a-high-throughput-situ-method-for-estimation-hepatocyte-nuclear

Nanyang Technological University

Research

JoVE Journal

Medicine

9.7K Views.  Centro de Investigación Príncipe Felipe (CIPF). Deze methode stelt de gebruiker in staat om een profiel van hepatocyte nucleaire DNA-inhoud te genereren uit 2D-weefselsecties voor de studie van leverontwikkeling, regeneratie en chronische ziekte. Deze geautomatiseerde hoge doorvoerbenadering kan worden toegepast op alle 2D-leverweefselsecties, waardoor een intern gekalibreerde uitlezing van nucleaire trucs voor alle eenvoudige cirkelvormige hepatocyte kernen wordt geboden. Veranderingen in hepatocyte nucleaire ploidy worden geassocieerd me...

Video: A High-Throughput In Situ Method for Estimation of Hepatocyte Nuclear Ploidy in Mice

Simultaneous Assessment of Cardiomyocyte DNA Synthesis and Ploidy: A Method to Assist Quantification of Cardiomyocyte Regeneration and Turnover

Although it is accepted that the heart has a limited potential to regenerate cardiomyocytes following injury and that low levels of cardiomyocyte turnover occur during normal ageing, quantification of these events remains challenging. This is in part due to the rarity of the process and the fact that multiple cellular sources contribute to myocardial maintenance. Furthermore, DNA duplication within cardiomyocytes often leads to a polyploid cardiomyocyte and only rarely leads to new cardiomyocytes by cellular division. In order to accurately quantify cardiomyocyte turnover discrimination between these processes is essential. The protocol described here employs long term nucleoside labeling in order to label all nuclei which have arisen as a result of DNA replication and cardiomyocyte nuclei identified by utilizing nuclei isolation and subsequent PCM1 immunolabeling. Together this allows the accurate and sensitive identification of the nucleoside labeling of the cardiomyocyte nuclei population. Furthermore, 4&#8242;,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole labeling and analysis of nuclei ploidy, enables the discrimination of neo-cardiomyocyte nuclei from nuclei which have incorporated nucleoside during polyploidization. Although this method cannot control for cardiomyocyte binucleation, it allows a rapid and robust quantification of neo-cardiomyocyte nuclei while accounting for polyploidization. This method has a number of downstream applications including assessing the potential therapeutics to enhance cardiomyocyte regeneration or investigating the effects of cardiac disease on cardiomyocyte turnover and ploidy. This technique is also compatible with additional downstream immunohistological techniques, allowing quantification of nucleoside incorporation in all cardiac cell types.

Quantification of cardiomyocyte turnover is challenging. The protocol described here makes an important contribution to this challenge by enabling accurate and sensitive quantification of neo-cardiomyocyte nuclei generation and nuclei ploidy.

Although it is accepted that the heart has a limited potential to regenerate cardiomyocytes following injury and that low levels of cardiomyocyte turnover ...

Developmental Biology

Isolation of Cardiomyocyte Nuclei from Post-mortem Tissue

Identification of cardiomyocyte nuclei has been challenging in tissue sections as most strategies rely only on cytoplasmic marker proteins1. Rare events in cardiac myocytes such as proliferation and apoptosis require an accurate identification of cardiac myocyte nuclei to analyze cellular renewal in homeostasis and in pathological conditions2. Here, we provide a method to isolate cardiomyocyte nuclei from post mortem tissue by density sedimentation and immunolabeling with antibodies against pericentriolar material 1 (PCM-1) and subsequent flow cytometry sorting. This strategy allows a high throughput analysis and isolation with the advantage of working equally well on fresh tissue and frozen archival material. This makes it possible to study material already collected in biobanks. This technique is applicable and tested in a wide range of species and suitable for multiple downstream applications such as carbon-14 dating3, cell-cycle analysis4, visualization of thymidine analogues (e.g. BrdU and IdU)4, transcriptome and epigenetic analysis.

Cardiac nuclei are isolated via density sedimentation and immunolabeled with antibodies against pericentriolar material 1 (PCM-1) to identify and sort cardiomyocyte nuclei by flow cytometry.

Identification of cardiomyocyte nuclei has been challenging in tissue sections as most strategies rely only on cytoplasmic marker proteins1. Rare events ...

A Familial Hypercholesterolemia Human Liver Chimeric Mouse Model Using Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-derived Hepatocytes

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is mostly caused by low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) mutations and results in an increased risk of early-onset cardiovascular disease due to marked elevation of LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) in blood. Statins are the first line of lipid-lowering drugs for treating FH and other types of hypercholesterolemia, but new approaches are emerging, in particular PCSK9 antibodies, which are now being tested in clinical trials. To explore novel therapeutic approaches for FH, either new drugs or new formulations, we need appropriate in vivo models. However, differences in the lipid metabolic profiles compared to humans are a key problem of the available animal models of FH. To address this issue, we have generated a human liver chimeric mouse model using FH induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived hepatocytes (iHeps). We used Ldlr-/-/Rag2-/-/Il2rg-/- (LRG) mice to avoid immune rejection of transplanted human cells and to assess the effect of LDLR-deficient iHeps in an LDLR null background. Transplanted FH iHeps could repopulate 5-10% of the LRG mouse liver based on human albumin staining. Moreover, the engrafted iHeps responded to lipid-lowering drugs and recapitulated clinical observations of increased efficacy of PCSK9 antibodies compared to statins. Our human liver chimeric model could thus be useful for preclinical testing of new therapies to FH. Using the same protocol, similar human liver chimeric mice for other FH genetic variants, or mutations corresponding to other inherited liver diseases, may also be generated.

Here, we present a protocol to generate a human liver chimeric mouse model of familial hypercholesterolemia using human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived hepatocytes. This is a valuable model for testing new therapies for hypercholesterolemia.

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is mostly caused by low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) mutations and results in an increased risk of early-onset ...

Non-Invasive PET/MR Imaging in an Orthotopic Mouse Model of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Preclinical experimental models of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) that recapitulate human disease represent an important tool to study tumorigenesis and evaluate novel therapeutic approaches. Non-invasive whole-body imaging using positron emission tomography (PET) provides critical insights into the in vivo characteristics of tissues at the molecular level in real-time. We present here a protocol for orthotopic HCC xenograft creation with and without hepatic artery ligation (HAL) to induce tumor hypoxia and the assessment of their tumor metabolism in vivo using [18F]Fluoromisonidazole ([18F]FMISO) and [18F]Fluorodeoxyglucose ([18F]FDG) PET/magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Tumor hypoxia could be readily visualized using the hypoxia marker [18F]FMISO, and it was found that the [18F]FMISO uptake was higher in HCC mice that underwent HAL than in the non-HAL group, whereas [18F]FDG could not distinguish tumor hypoxia between the two groups. HAL tumors also displayed a higher level of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1&#945; expression in response to hypoxia. Quantification of HAL tumors showed a 2.3-fold increase in [18F]FMISO uptake based on the standardized value uptake (SUV) approach.

Here, we present a protocol to create orthotopic hepatocellular carcinoma xenografts with and without hepatic artery ligation and perform non-invasive positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of tumor hypoxia using [18F]Fluoromisonidazole ([18F]FMISO) and [18F]Fluorodeoxyglucose ([18F]FDG).

Preclinical experimental models of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) that recapitulate human disease represent an important tool to study tumorigenesis and ...

Cancer Research

Nuclei Isolation from Mouse Cardiac Progenitor Cells at Single-Cell Resolution

Nuclei Isolation from Mouse Cardiac Progenitor Cells for Epigenome and Gene Expression Profiling at Single-Cell Resolution

The developing heart is a complex structure containing various progenitor cells controlled by complex regulatory mechanisms. The examination of the gene expression and chromatin state of individual cells allows the identification of the cell type and state. Single-cell sequencing approaches have revealed a number of important characteristics of cardiac progenitor cell heterogeneity. However, these methods are generally restricted to fresh tissue, which limits studies with diverse experimental conditions, as the fresh tissue must be processed at once in the same run to reduce the technical variability. Therefore, easy and flexible procedures to produce data from methods such as single-nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) and the single-nucleus assay for transposase-accessible chromatin with high-throughput sequencing (snATAC-seq) are needed in this area. Here, we present a protocol to rapidly isolate nuclei for subsequent single-nuclei dual-omics (combined snRNA-seq and snATAC-seq). This method allows the isolation of nuclei from frozen samples of cardiac progenitor cells and can be combined with platforms that use microfluidic chambers.

Author Spotlight: Nuclei Isolation from Mouse Cardiac Progenitor Cells for Epigenome and Gene Expression Profiling at Single-Cell Resolution  

Here, we present a protocol describing cell nuclei preparation. After microdissection and enzymatic dissociation of cardiac tissue into single cells, the progenitor cells were frozen, followed by isolation of pure viable cells, which were used for single-nucleus RNA sequencing and the single-nucleus assay for transposase-accessible chromatin with high-throughput sequencing analyses.

The developing heart is a complex structure containing various progenitor cells controlled by complex regulatory mechanisms. The examination of the gene ...

A High Throughput in situ Hybridization Method to Characterize mRNA Expression Patterns in the Fetal Mouse Lower Urogenital Tract

Development of the lower urogenital tract (LUT) is an intricate process. This complexity is evidenced during formation of the prostate from the fetal male urethra, which relies on androgenic signals and epithelial-mesenchymal interactions1,2. Understanding the molecular mechanisms responsible for prostate development may reveal growth mechanisms that are inappropriately reawakened later in life to give rise to prostate diseases such as benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate cancer.
The developing LUT is anatomically complex. By the time prostatic budding begins on 16.5 days post conception (dpc), numerous cell types are present. Vasculature, nerves and smooth muscle reside within the mesenchymal stroma3. This stroma surrounds a multilayered epithelium and gives rise to the fetal prostate through androgen receptor-dependent paracrine signals4. The identity of the stromal androgen receptor-responsive genes required for prostate development and the mechanism by which prostate ductal epithelium forms in response to these genes is not fully understood. The ability to precisely identify cell types and localize expression of specific factors within them is imperative to further understand prostate development. In situ hybridization (ISH) allows for localization of mRNAs within a tissue. Thus, this method can be used to identify pattern and timing of expression of signaling molecules and their receptors, thereby elucidating potential prostate developmental regulators.
Here, we describe a high throughput ISH technique to identify mRNA expression patterns in the fetal mouse LUT using vibrating microtome-cut sections. This method offers several advantages over other ISH protocols. Performing ISH on thin sections adhered to a slide is technically difficult; cryosections frequently have poor structural quality while both cryosections and paraffin sections often result in weak signal resolution. Performing ISH on whole mount tissues can result in probe trapping. In contrast, our high throughput technique utilizes thick-cut sections that reveal detailed tissue architecture. Modified microfuge tubes allow easy handling of sections during the ISH procedure. A maximum of 4 mRNA transcripts can be screened from a single 17.5dpc LUT with up to 24 mRNA transcripts detected in a single run, thereby reducing cost and maximizing efficiency. This method allows multiple treatment groups to be processed identically and as a single unit, thereby removing any bias for interpreting data. Most pertinently for prostate researchers, this method provides a spatial and temporal location of low and high abundance mRNA transcripts in the fetal mouse urethra that gives rise to the prostate ductal network.

A High Throughput in situ Hybridization Method to Characterize mRNA Expression Patterns in the Fetal Mouse Lower Urogenital Tract

Here, we describe an efficient high throughput in situ hybridization (ISH) method for visualizing patterns of mRNA expression in developing fetal mouse prostate tissue sections. The method can be easily adapted to visualize mRNA expression patterns in other mouse tissues or in tissues from other species.

Development of the lower urogenital tract (LUT) is an intricate process. This complexity is evidenced during formation of the prostate from the fetal male ...

Biology

Optimized Analysis of In Vivo and In Vitro Hepatic Steatosis

Establishing a system of procedures to qualitatively and quantitatively characterize in vivo and in vitro hepatic steatosis is important for metabolic study in the liver. Here, numerous assays are described to comprehensively measure the phenotype and parameters of hepatic steatosis in mouse and hepatocyte models. 
Combining the physiological, histological, and biochemical methods, this system can be used to assess the progress of hepatic steatosis. In vivo, the measurements of body weight and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) provide a general understanding of mice in a non-invasive manner. Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&amp;E) and Oil Red O staining determine the histological morphology and lipid deposition of liver tissue under nutrient overload conditions, such as high-fat diet feeding. Next, the total lipid contents are isolated by chloroform/methanol extraction, which are followed by a biochemical analysis for triglyceride and cholesterol. Moreover, mouse primary hepatocytes are treated with high glucose plus insulin to stimulate lipid accumulation, an efficient in vitro model to mimic diet-induced hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia in vivo. Then, the lipid deposition is measured by Oil Red O staining and chloroform/methanol extraction. Oil Red O staining determines intuitive hepatic steatotic phenotypes, while the lipid extraction analysis determines the parameters that can be analyzed statistically. The present protocols are of interest to scientists in the fields of fatty liver diseases, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes.

Optimized Analysis of In Vivo and In Vitro Hepatic Steatosis

Here, optimized methods to generate in vivo and in vitro models of hepatic steatosis and to analyze the steatotic phenotypes and related physiological parameters are described.

Establishing a system of procedures to qualitatively and quantitatively characterize in vivo and in vitro hepatic steatosis is important for metabolic ...

Electroporation-Mediated Delivery of Cas9 Ribonucleoproteins and mRNA into Freshly Isolated Primary Mouse Hepatocytes

This protocol describes a fast and effective method for isolating primary mouse hepatocytes followed by electroporation-mediated delivery of CRISPR-Cas9 as ribonucleoproteins (RNPs) and mRNA. Primary mouse hepatocytes were isolated using a three-step retrograde perfusion method resulting in high yields of up to 50 &#215; 106 cells per liver and cell viability of &#62;85%. This protocol provides detailed instructions for plating, staining, and culturing hepatocytes. The results indicate that electroporation provides a high transfection efficiency of 89%, as measured by the percentage of green fluorescent protein (GFP)-positive cells and modest cell viability of &#62;35% in mouse hepatocytes.
To demonstrate the utility of this approach, CRISPR-Cas9 targeting the hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase gene was electroporated into primary mouse hepatocytes as proof-of-principle gene editing to disrupt a therapeutic gene related to an inherited metabolic disease (IMD) of the liver. A higher on-target edit of 78% was observed for RNPs compared to 47% editing efficiency with mRNA. The functionality of hepatocytes was evaluated in vitro using an albumin assay that indicated that delivering CRISPR-Cas9 as RNPs and mRNA results in comparable cell viability in primary mouse hepatocytes. A promising application for this protocol is the generation of mouse models for human genetic diseases affecting the liver.

This protocol describes techniques for isolating primary mouse hepatocytes from the liver and electroporating CRISPR-Cas9 as ribonucleoproteins and mRNA to disrupt a therapeutic target gene associated with an inherited metabolic disease of the liver. The methods described result in high viability and high levels of gene modification after electroporation.

This protocol describes a fast and effective method for isolating primary mouse hepatocytes followed by electroporation-mediated delivery of CRISPR-Cas9 ...

Bioengineering

In vivo Reprogramming of Adult Somatic Cells to Pluripotency by Overexpression of Yamanaka Factors

Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells that result from the reprogramming of somatic cells to a pluripotent state by forced expression of defined factors are offering new opportunities for regenerative medicine. Such clinical applications of iPS cells have been limited so far, mainly due to the poor efficiency of the existing reprogramming methodologies and the risk of the generated iPS cells to form tumors upon implantation.
We hypothesized that the reprogramming of somatic cells towards pluripotency could be achieved in vivo by gene transfer of reprogramming factors. In order to efficiently reprogram cells in vivo, high levels of the Yamanaka (OKSM) transcription factors need to be expressed at the target tissue. This can be achieved by using different viral or nonviral gene vectors depending on the target tissue. In this particular study, hydrodynamic tail-vein (HTV) injection of plasmid DNA was used to deliver the OKSM factors to mouse hepatocytes. This provided proof-of-evidence of in vivo reprogramming of adult, somatic cells towards a pluripotent state with high efficiency and fast kinetics. Furthermore no tumor or teratoma formation was observed in situ.
It can be concluded that reprogramming somatic cells in vivo may offer a potential approach to induce enhanced pluripotency rapidly, efficiently, and safely compared to in vitro performed protocols and can be applied to different tissue types in the future.

In vivo Reprogramming of Adult Somatic Cells to Pluripotency by Overexpression of Yamanaka Factors

This study demonstrates the reprogramming of somatic cells towards pluripotency in vivo without the generation of teratomas. We used hydrodynamic tail vein injection of plasmid DNA encoding the Yamanka factors to induce the in vivo reprogramming of adult hepatocytes into cells of enhanced pluripotency.

Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells that result from the reprogramming of somatic cells to a pluripotent state by forced expression of defined factors ...

Cell Type-specific Gene Expression Profiling in the Mouse Liver

Liver repopulation after injury is a crucial feature of mammals which prevents immediate organ failure and death after exposure of environmental toxins. A deeper understanding of the changes in gene expression that occur during repopulation could help identify therapeutic targets to promote the restoration of liver function in the setting of injuries. Nonetheless, methods to isolate specifically the repopulating hepatocytes are inhibited by a lack of cell markers, limited cell numbers, and the fragility of these cells. The development of translating ribosome affinity purification (TRAP) technology in conjunction with the Fah-/- mouse model to recapitulate repopulation in the setting of liver injury allows gene expression profiling of the repopulating hepatocytes. With TRAP, cell type-specific translating mRNA is rapidly and efficiently isolated. We developed a method that utilizes TRAP with affinity-based isolation of translating mRNA from hepatocytes that selectively express the green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged ribosomal protein (RP), GFP:RPL10A. TRAP circumvents the long time period required for fluorescence-activated cell sorting that could change the gene expression profile. Furthermore, since only the repopulating hepatocytes express the GFP:RPL10A fusion protein, the isolated mRNA is devoid of contamination from the surrounding injured hepatocytes and other cell types in the liver. The affinity-purified mRNA is of high quality and allows downstream PCR- or high-throughput sequencing-based analysis of gene expression.

Translating ribosome affinity purification (TRAP) enables rapid and efficient isolation of cell type-specific translating mRNA. Here, we demonstrate a method that combines hydrodynamic tail-vein injection in a mouse model of liver repopulation and TRAP to examine the expression profile of repopulating hepatocytes.

Liver repopulation after injury is a crucial feature of mammals which prevents immediate organ failure and death after exposure of environmental toxins. A ...

A High-Throughput In Situ Method for Estimation of Hepatocyte Nuclear Ploidy in Mice

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