extraction and electroporation of mouse embryo heart as a transgenesis approach

Electroporation-Based Transgenesis of Cardiac Cells in Mouse Hearts

The heart is the first organ formed during embryonic development. This process involves the spatiotemporal coordination of various populations of progenitor cells from distinct areas of the embryo. All this occurs while the developing heart continues to beat and function, emphasizing the remarkable coordination required for its formation1,2,3. Given the crucial role of the heart, tight regulation at the cellular and molecular levels is essential for its proper formation4,5. Identifying the mechanisms that control heart development has been of great interest, as they are crucial for unraveling congenital heart disorders, which impact a substantial number of patients worldwide6. Furthermore, comprehending heart development is pivotal in deciphering cardiac regeneration, as postnatal mammalian hearts retain a regenerative capacity that is lost or hindered in adulthood7,8. Consequently, dissecting molecular regulators of heart development is imperative to advance research efforts on congenital heart disease and cardiac regeneration.
In pursuit of this objective, there has been a growing focus on investigating the role of the epicardium in cardiac development and regeneration9. The epicardium is a thin layer of mesothelial tissue that comprises the outermost layer of the mammalian heart (Figure 1). Recent studies have shown the importance of the epicardium during cardiac injury, revealing that this tissue is able to send proliferation signals to cardiomyocytes in the affected area to mitigate the damage10,11. Despite the importance of the epicardium, conducting further molecular investigations has been challenged by its immense heterogeneity. Single-cell RNAseq experiments have revealed the epicardium&#39;s heterogeneity, housing multiple cell subpopulations with distinct transcriptomic signatures12,13,14,15,16. Thus, a strategy to screen potential regulators of cardiac development should accommodate the diversity of epicardial progenitor cells.
In this sense, the mouse model&#39;s amenability to genetic modification has facilitated the identification of numerous genes crucial for heart development, allowing the generation of mutant lines with gain-of-function (GOF) or loss-of-function (LOF) of specific genes. However, these approaches imply a considerable investment of time and experimental resources; therefore, they are impractical when assessing the roles of a large number of candidate genes. Besides, developmental genes often exert pleiotropic functions in different tissues or are required for early embryonic development, hampering the interpretation of their contribution to development in a specific process. While it is possible to target gene function at specific structures or developmental time points, this usually requires the use of more complex genetic constructions, which can be difficult to generate or are generally unavailable.
To overcome these limitations, we present a methodology to electroporate mouse embryonic hearts for transient transgenesis (Figure 2). Paired with ex vivo culture and fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), this strategy demonstrates its capabilities through transient GOF of Meis1, a well-characterized gene implicated in heart development and regeneration17,18,19. In this article, other potential applications of this methodology are also explored, and its advantages and limitations are discussed, as well as compared to existing protocols for transiently modulating gene expression. We believe the framework and visual examples presented will enhance the understanding of epicardium biology during development and disease.
<img alt="Figure 1" class="xfigimg" src="/files/ftp_upload/66754/66754fig01v2.jpg" /> 
Figure 1: Mouse embryonic heart layers. Schematic diagram of a coronal view of an E13-14 mouse embryonic heart. The three main cellular layers of the heart are represented in yellow (endocardium), red (myocardium), and blue (epicardium). The pericardium is represented in a brown line. The four chambers of the heart are abbreviated as LV, left ventricle; RV, right ventricle; LA, left atrium; RA, right atrium. <a href="https://www.jove.com/files/ftp_upload/66754/66754fig01largev2.jpg" target="_blank">Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.</a>
<img alt="Figure 2" class="xfigimg" src="/files/ftp_upload/66754/66754fig02.jpg" /> 
Figure 2: Schematic overview of the heart electroporation protocol. <a href="https://www.jove.com/files/ftp_upload/66754/66754fig02large.jpg" target="_blank">Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.</a>

Author Spotlight: Cardiac Cell Transgenesis for Rapid Gene Screening

An Efficient Transgenesis Approach for Gene Delivery in the Mouse Embryonic Heart

We aim to establish a new methodology that facilitates the overexpression or downregulation of a certain gene to understand heart development. Mouse transgenesis is a great investment of time and effort. Assessing genes one by one is not realistic because of this and also because of the high complexity of the genome.Hence, there is a need for a rapid method of screening. We have presented a tool available to any researcher to analyze the gain or loss of function of a candidate gene during heart development. The main advantage of our protocol is that it's much quicker and less expensive than mouse transgenesis.Perhaps it could be used to assess different genes of interest before commencing a transgenesis experiment.

Extraction and Electroporation of Mouse Embryo Heart as a Transgenesis Approach

To begin, use a pipette puller to stretch a 20 micrometer wide glass capillary. Place an extracted mouse uterus on a dry paper towel. Then, insert the tip of a pair of fine scissors into the myometrial side of the uterus, and slowly run the edge of the blade through the whole length and cut it.Now, expose and cut the decidui. Transfer them into a dish with growth medium. Dissect the decidui to extract the embryos.Transfer the embryos into a 60 millimeter Petri dish containing warm growth medium. With a pair of fine forceps, carefully cut the tail and the head of the embryo, and leave only the trunk of the body. Carefully remove as much tissue as possible from the trunk without damaging the heart or pulmonary and aorta arteries.Insert a new stretched out needle into the tip of the mouth pipette, and carefully aspirate and load 10 microliters of a prepared plasmid mix into the stretched out needle. Place a single heart into a clean 60 millimeter Petri dish containing prewarmed PBS. Place the dish under a dissecting microscope.Adjust the distance between the poles of positive and negative electrodes to about four millimeters. Next, use a needle in the mouth pipette to gently puncture the most superficial layer of the heart. Transfer one to two microliters of the plasmid mix into the heart.Remove the needle carefully. Hold the electrode in place so that the heart is located between both poles. Then, electroporate the heart.Transfer the electroporated heart to a new 12 well plate, containing one milliliter of growth medium. Incubate the plate at 37 degrees Celsius under 5%carbon dioxide until analysis.

Research

JoVE Journal

Developmental Biology

The mammalian heart is a complex organ formed during development via highly diverse populations of progenitor cells. The origin, timing of recruitment, ...