Name: isolation, transfection, and long-term culture of adult mouse and rat cardiomyocytes
Uploaded: 2020-10-10T13:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Isolation, Transfection, and Long-Term Culture of Adult Mouse and Rat Cardiomyocytes at JoVE.com

This work was supported by funding from the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, to Dr. Onur Kanisicak; a grant from the National Institutes of Health (R01HL148598) to Dr. Onur Kanisicak.&#160;Dr. Onur Kanisicak is supported by the American Heart Association Career Development Award (18CDA34110117). Dr. Perwez Alam is supported by the American Heart Association postdoctoral grant (AHA_20POST35200267). Dr Malina J. Ivey is supported by an NIH T32 grant (HL 125204-06A1).

All experiments should be performed in accordance with the guidelines of the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals published by the U.S. National Institute of Health (NIH). All protocols displayed in the video were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) of the University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine.
1. Preparation before heart extraction from adult mice (and rats)
<ol>
	<li>Prepare the corresponding perfusion, enzyme, and stop solutions, accordi...

<ol>
	<li>van Amerongen, M. J., Engel, F. B. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Features+of+cardiomyocyte+proliferation+and+its+potential+for+cardiac+regeneration.">Features of cardiomyocyte proliferation and its potential for cardiac regeneration.</a> Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine. 12, 2233-2244 (2008).</li><li>Parente, V., 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=Hypoxia/reoxygenation+cardiac+injury+and+regeneration+in+zebrafish+adult+heart.">Hypoxia/reoxygenation cardiac injury and regeneration in zebrafish adult heart.</a> PLoS One. 8, 53748 (2013).</li><li>Wang, J., 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=The+regenerative+capacity+of+zebrafish+reverses+cardiac+failure+caused+by+genetic+cardiomyocyte+depletion.">The regenerative capacity of zebrafish reverses cardiac failure caused by genetic cardiomyocyte depletion.</a> Development. 138, 3421-3430 (2011).</li><li>Gonzalez-Rosa, J. M., Martin, V., Peralta, M., Torres, M., Mercader, N. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Extensive+scar+formation+and+regression+during+heart+regeneration+after+cryoinjury+in+zebrafish.">Extensive scar formation and regression during heart regeneration after cryoinjury in zebrafish.</a> Development. 138, 1663-1674 (2011).</li><li>Graham, E. L., 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=Isolation,+culture,+and+functional+characterization+of+adult+mouse+cardiomyoctyes.">Isolation, culture, and functional characterization of adult mouse cardiomyoctyes.</a> Journal of Visualized Experiments. , e50289 (2013).</li><li>Brette, F., Orchard, C. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=T-tubule+function+in+mammalian+cardiac+myocytes.">T-tubule function in mammalian cardiac myocytes.</a> Circulation Research. 92, 1182-1192 (2003).</li><li>M&#252;ller, J. 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L., Yang, L., Yang, 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+Role+of+Cardiokines+in+Heart+Diseases:+Beneficial+or+Detrimental.">The Role of Cardiokines in Heart Diseases: Beneficial or Detrimental.</a> BioMed Research International. 2018, 8207058 (2018).</li><li>Eppenberger, H. M., Hertig, C., Eppenberger-Eberhardt, M. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Adult+rat+cardiomyocytes+in+culture+A+model+system+to+study+the+plasticity+of+the+differentiated+cardiac+phenotype+at+the+molecular+and+cellular+levels.">Adult rat cardiomyocytes in culture A model system to study the plasticity of the differentiated cardiac phenotype at the molecular and cellular levels.</a> Trends in Cardiovascular Medicine. 4, 187-193 (1994).</li><li>Alam, P., 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=Inhibition+of+Senescence-Associated+Genes+Rb1+and+Meis2+in+Adult+Cardiomyocytes+Results+in+Cell+Cycle+Reentry+and+Cardiac+Repair+Post-Myocardial+Infarction.">Inhibition of Senescence-Associated Genes Rb1 and Meis2 in Adult Cardiomyocytes Results in Cell Cycle Reentry and Cardiac Repair Post-Myocardial Infarction.</a> Journal of the American Heart Association. 8, 012089 (2019).</li><li>Arif, 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=MicroRNA-210-mediated+proliferation,+survival,+and+angiogenesis+promote+cardiac+repair+post+myocardial+infarction+in+rodents.">MicroRNA-210-mediated proliferation, survival, and angiogenesis promote cardiac repair post myocardial infarction in rodents.</a> Journal of Molecular Medicine. 95, 1369-1385 (2017).</li><li>Rosenthal, N., Brown, S. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=The+mouse+ascending:+perspectives+for+human-disease+models.">The mouse ascending: perspectives for human-disease models.</a> Nature Cell Biology. 9, 993-999 (2007).</li><li>Nippert, F., Schreckenberg, R., Schl&#252;ter, K. D. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Isolation+and+Cultivation+of+Adult+Rat+Cardiomyocytes.">Isolation and Cultivation of Adult Rat Cardiomyocytes.</a> Journal of Visualized Experiments. , e56634 (2017).</li><li>Judd, J., Lovas, J., Huang, G. N. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Isolation,+Culture+and+Transduction+of+Adult+Mouse+Cardiomyocytes.">Isolation, Culture and Transduction of Adult Mouse Cardiomyocytes.</a> Journal of Visualized Experiments. , e54012 (2016).</li><li>Ackers-Johnson, 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=A+Simplified,+Langendorff-Free+Method+for+Concomitant+Isolation+of+Viable+Cardiac+Myocytes+and+Nonmyocytes+From+the+Adult+Mouse+Heart.">A Simplified, Langendorff-Free Method for Concomitant Isolation of Viable Cardiac Myocytes and Nonmyocytes From the Adult Mouse Heart.</a> Circulation Research. 119, 909-920 (2016).</li><li>Li, D., Wu, J., Bai, Y., Zhao, X., Liu, L. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Isolation+and+culture+of+adult+mouse+cardiomyocytes+for+cell+signaling+and+in+vitro+cardiac+hypertrophy.">Isolation and culture of adult mouse cardiomyocytes for cell signaling and in vitro cardiac hypertrophy.</a> Journal of Visualized Experiments. , e51357 (2014).</li><li>Pinz, I., Zhu, M., Mende, U., Ingwall, J. S. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=An+improved+isolation+procedure+for+adult+mouse+cardiomyocytes.">An improved isolation procedure for adult mouse cardiomyocytes.</a> Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics. 61, 93-101 (2011).</li><li>O'Connell, T. D., Rodrigo, M. C., Simpson, P. C. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Isolation+and+culture+of+adult+mouse+cardiac+myocytes.">Isolation and culture of adult mouse cardiac myocytes.</a> Methods in Molecular Biology. 357, 271-296 (2007).</li><li>Dou, Y., Arlock, P., Arner, A. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Blebbistatin+specifically+inhibits+actin-myosin+interaction+in+mouse+cardiac+muscle.">Blebbistatin specifically inhibits actin-myosin interaction in mouse cardiac muscle.</a> American Journal of Physiology: Cell Physiology. 293, 1148-1153 (2007).</li><li>Kabaeva, Z., Zhao, M., Michele, D. E. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Blebbistatin+extends+culture+life+of+adult+mouse+cardiac+myocytes+and+allows+efficient+and+stable+transgene+expression.">Blebbistatin extends culture life of adult mouse cardiac myocytes and allows efficient and stable transgene expression.</a> American Journal of Physiology: Heart and Circulatory Physiology. 294, 1667-1674 (2008).</li><li>Sellin, L. C., McArdle, J. J. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Multiple+effects+of+2,3-butanedione+monoxime.">Multiple effects of 2,3-butanedione monoxime.</a> Pharmacology &amp; Toxicology. 74, 305-313 (1994).</li></ol>

There is a critical need to establish a protocol for adult cardiomyocyte isolation and long-term culture to perform cell-specific mechanistic studies. There are only a few reports discussing adult CM isolation protocols, and even fewer of them are used for long-term culture of adult mice CM15,16,17. It is been shown that the adult rat CM has a higher tolerance to in vitro culture than the adult mice CM10<...

Cardiac diseases are one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Almost all types of cardiac injury result in a significant loss of adult cardiomyocytes (CMs). Adult mammalian hearts are unable to repair their cardiac injury due to the senescent nature of the adult CM1. Thus, any insult to the adult mammalian heart results in a permanent loss of CMs, leading to reduced cardiac function and heart failure. Unlike adult mammals, small animals like zebrafish and newt hearts can regenerate their cardiac injury through existing CM proliferation2,3,4. A worldwide effort is ongoing to find a novel therapeutic intervention for cardiac injury via both proliferative and non-proliferative approaches. In past decades, various types of genetic mouse models have been developed to study cardiac injury and repair. However, using in vivo animal models continues to be an expensive approach with the additional complexity to decipher a cell-autonomous mechanism from secondary effects. Besides, in vivo systems are challenging to analyze CM specific effects of a pharmacological intervention that induces cardioprotective signaling from the CM.
Moreover, the long-term culture of adult CMs is necessary to perform CM proliferation analyses. CM proliferation assays require a minimum of 4-5 days for cells to be induced into the cell cycle and to obtain accurate data after that. Additionally, studies that utilize isolated CMs for electrophysiological studies, drug screening, toxicity studies, and Ca++ homeostasis studies are all in need of an improved culture system5,6,7. Furthermore, recent studies show the cardioprotective significance of cytokines secreted from CMs (cardiokines)8,9. In order to investigate the therapeutic role and molecular mechanism of these cardiokines during heart repair and regeneration, a prolonged culture is required.
Adult rat CMs are robust enough for single-cell isolation and long-term culture in an in vitro system10,11,12. However, adult mouse CMs are of great interest for in vitro assays, due to the availability of a variety of genetically modified mouse models, which allows for the design and execution of various innovative analyses that are not possible with rat CM13. In contrast to adult rat CM isolation, it is quite challenging to obtain a single-cell suspension from adult mouse hearts, and the long-term culture of adult mouse CMs in culture is even more challenging.
Adult CM isolation from mouse and rat hearts using a Langendorff system has previously been established to study CM function5,14,15. Here, we have described in detail the protocols for adult CM isolation from both rats and mice, as well as a modified long-term culture, transfection, and CM proliferation of isolated cells.

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>2,3-Butane Dione monoxime</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>B-0753</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Blebbistatin</td>
			<td>APExBIO</td>
			<td>B1387</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Bovine serum albumin</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>A3059</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>CaCl2</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>449709</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Cell culture plate</td>
			<td>Corning Costar</td>
			<td>3526</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Cell strainer</td>
			<td>BD Biosciences</td>
			<td>352360</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Cel-miR-67</td>
			<td>Dharmacon</td>
			<td>CN-001000-01-50</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Collagenase type2</td>
			<td>Worthington</td>
			<td>LS004177</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Disposable Graduated Transfer Pipettes</td>
			<td>Fisherbrand</td>
			<td>13-711-20</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Disposable polystyrene weighing dishes</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>Z154881-500EA</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Dulbecco&#39;s Modified Eagle&#39;s medium</td>
			<td>Thermo Scientific</td>
			<td>SH30022.01</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>EdU</td>
			<td>Life Technologies</td>
			<td>C10337</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Fetal bovine serum</td>
			<td>Corning</td>
			<td>35-015-CV</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Fine Point High Precision Forceps</td>
			<td>Fisherbrand</td>
			<td>22-327379</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Glucose</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>G-5400</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Hemocytometer</td>
			<td>Hausser Scientific</td>
			<td>1483</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Heparin</td>
			<td>Sagent Pharmaceuticals</td>
			<td>PSLAB-018285-02</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>HEPES</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>H3375</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>High Precision Straight Broad Strong Point Tweezers/Forceps</td>
			<td>Fisherbrand</td>
			<td>12-000-128</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Hyaluronidase</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>H3506</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Insulin</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>I0516-5ML</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>K2HPO4</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>P-8281</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>KCl</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>746436</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Light Microscope</td>
			<td>Nikon</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Lipofectamine RNAiMAX</td>
			<td>Life Technologies</td>
			<td>13778-150</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>MgSO4</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>M-2643</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>NaCl</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>S9888</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>NaOH</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>S318-500</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Natural Mouse Laminin</td>
			<td>Invitrogen</td>
			<td>23017-015</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Penicillin/Streptomycin</td>
			<td>Corning</td>
			<td>30-002-CI</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Pentobarbital</td>
			<td>Henry Schein</td>
			<td>24352</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Phosphate buffered saline</td>
			<td>Life Technologies</td>
			<td>20012-027</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Protease XIV</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>P5147-1G</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Selenium</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>229865+5G</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>siMeis2</td>
			<td>Dharmacon</td>
			<td>s161030</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>siRb1</td>
			<td>Dharmacon</td>
			<td>s128325</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Straight Blunt/SharpDissecting Scissors</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>28252</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Straight Very Fine Precision Tip Forceps</td>
			<td>Fisherbrand</td>
			<td>16-100-120</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Taurine</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>T0625</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Transferrin</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>T8158-100MG</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ultra-smooth, beveled-edge finish scissor</td>
			<td>Fisherbrand</td>
			<td>22-079-747</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Water Bath</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>3006S</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

isolation, transfection, and long-term culture of adult mouse and rat cardiomyocytes

Ex vivo culture of the adult mammalian cardiomyocytes (CMs) presents the most relevant experimental system for the in vitro study of cardiac biology. Adult mammalian CMs are terminally differentiated cells with minimal proliferative capacity. The post-mitotic state of adult CMs not only restricts cardiomyocyte cell cycle progression but also limits the efficient culture of CMs. Moreover, the long-term culture of adult CMs is necessary for many studies, such as CM proliferation and analysis of gene expression.
The mouse and the rat are the two most preferred laboratory animals to be used for cardiomyocyte isolation. While the long-term culture of rat CMs is possible, adult mouse CMs are susceptible to death and cannot be cultured more than five days under normal conditions. Therefore, there is a critical need to optimize the cell isolation and long-term culture protocol for adult murine CMs. With this modified protocol, it is possible to successfully isolate and culture both adult mouse and rat CMs for more than 20 days. Moreover, the siRNA transfection efficiency of isolated CM is significantly increased compared to previous reports. For adult mouse CM isolation, the Langendorff perfusion method is utilized with an optimal enzyme solution and sufficient time for complete extracellular matrix dissociation. In order to obtain pure ventricular CMs, both atria were dissected and discarded before proceeding with the disassociation and plating. Cells were dispersed on a laminin coated plate, which allowed for efficient and rapid attachment. CMs were allowed to settle for 4-6 h before siRNA transfection. Culture media was refreshed every 24 h for 20 days, and subsequently, CMs were fixed and stained for cardiac-specific markers such as Troponin and markers of cell cycle such as KI67.

The current modified protocol allows efficient isolation and culture of rat and mice CMs in vitro. For rat CM isolation, a total of 3 adult (12-week-old) male Fischer 344 rats were used in the procedure. Figure 1 shows the surgical apparatus and isolation setups that are required in the procedure; each part has been marked and described in the figure legend. Collagenase type 2 was used for digestion, which yields a high quantity of high quality CMs from successful isolation (<strong class="x...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Isolation, Transfection, and Long-Term Culture of Adult Mouse and Rat Cardiomyocytes at JoVE.com

Isolation, Transfection, and Long-Term Culture of Adult Mouse and Rat Cardiomyocytes

Here, we present a protocol for the isolation, transfection, and long-term culture of adult mouse and rat cardiomyocytes.

Ex vivo culture of the adult mammalian cardiomyocytes (CMs) presents the most relevant experimental system for the in vitro study of cardiac biology. ...

The objective of this video is to demonstrate a standardized protocol for adult cardiomyocytes isolation, long-term culture and transfection. Isolating and culturing cardiomyocytes from mouse or rat continue to be an essential method to investigate the cell autonomous biology of cardiomyocytes within the healthy and disease heart. There's several questions we can answer using isolated cardiomyocytes.Such as the proliferative potential. There are gene expression changes or specific cytokine expressions upon injury response. Unfortunately, mouse cardiomyocytes do not survive past one week in normal culture conditions.Therefore, in this video, we describe an optimized method to isolate adult mouse cardiomyocytes, transfixed them and cultured them well beyond 21 days, this technique is initially hard to master. But with practice one can achieve about 80 to 90%survive in cardiomyocytes after isolation and about a 100 percent transfection efficiency. And most of these cardiomyocytes in correct conditions can survive past 20 days.Clean and sterilize your surgical instruments by soaking them in 70%alcohol for 15 minutes and subsequently washing them with double distilled water. After the water, leave the tools in the air to dry next, clean the profusion apparatus by running 70%alcohol twice for five minutes each. Increasing the flow rate will help to clean the tubing after alcohol rinse out any remaining alcohol by running double distilled water for 10 minutes.set up three dishes to clean the heart after excision. Fill each of the dishes with 20 milliliters of myocyte buffer. Add two to three drops of heparin to each dish with the Pasteur pipette and mix Well by pipetting up and down multiple times.Take a 10 milliliter syringe and fill it with myocyte buffer. Remove any of the air bubbles from the syringe and place it in the third dish in an angled position, securing it with tape. Prepare a loose Knot with surgical suture and place it around the needle.Inject the mouse with heparin through IP injection 20 minutes prior to anesthesia. Circulate the myocyte profusion buffer through the profusion apparatus at a flow rate of three milliliters per minute. After five minutes, replace the profusion buffer with enzyme solution, saturate the enzyme solution with oxygen during the process, again, set the enzyme solution to a flow rate of three mLs per minute.Confirm anesthesia by toe pinching and place the mouse on the surgical platform. Sterilize the skin with 70%alcohol. Carefully open the chest, exercise the heart and put the heart in the first dish.Clear the blood from the heart by gentle squeezing, then transfer the heart to the second dish to further clean the blood from the heart and to remove any non-cardiac tissues. Subsequently transfer the heart to the third dish. Find the aorta and use your forceps to keep it Peyton more placing it around the cannulating needle.Secure it by pulling down your pre tight knot tightening and then making a second knot. For additional stability fix the order and place with the help of a clip. Trim any excess suture thread, and finally start the heart profusion using the myocyte buffer in the syringe to clear any of the blood remaining in the heart.Carefully remove the calculating needle from the syringe and hook it to the profusion apparatus. Attempt to prevent any air bubbles from going into the heart. As this may affect the flow of the enzyme solution and digestion.Move the water jacket up, to provide a homogeneous environment to the heart during profusion. Allow the enzyme solution to flow through the heart with a speed of two to three mLs per minute. Let the enzyme solution flow through the heart for two minutes.At two minutes, mix in 40 microliters of a hundred micromolar calcium chloride solution to the enzyme solution. Let the enzyme solution pass through the heart for another 10 to 15 minutes. Once the flow becomes smooth and the heart starts to look brown and soft, you know that you have an even distribution of the collagenase enzyme to achieve proper digestion of the heart.When you think your digestion is complete, take the heart down from the Langendorff perfusion system and put it into a 16 millimeter Petri dish filled with five milliliters of enzyme solution and take it to a biosafety foot. Carefully remove the atria and extra fat tissue. Mince the heart in defined pieces with the help of forceps.Take a sterile Pasteur pipette and cut its tip at 45 degrees. Use the Pasteur pipette to break up the heart tissue by gentle pipetting up and down. Optimal digestion provides a suspension of single cell cardiomyocytes after that add five milliliters of stop solution to stop the enzyme activity to avoid over digestion, Take a first 50 milliliter conical tube and place a sterile a hundred micron cell strainer on it.Pass the cardiomyocyte suspension through the cell strainer to remove any large chunks of tissue. Finally wash the strainer with stop solution to collect any attached cardiomyocyte remains. Centrifuge the cell suspension at 20 GS for three minutes and discard the supernatant.Re suspend the cardiomyocytes and 10 milliliters of stop solution, at three minute intervals at 10 microliters of 100 millimolar calcium chloride solution four times and mix. After the fourth edition centrifuge the cardiomyocytes suspension at 20 GS for three minutes and discard the supernatant. Re suspend the cardiomyocytes into culture media Pre plate the cells into a 60 millimeter dish and put into CO2 incubator for two to three hours.In two to three hours. The main contaminant cell types like fiber blasts will be adhered to the service of the dish, allowing for pure isolation of cardiomyocytes. After that, take the dish out of the incubator and collect the floating cardiomyocytes in a conical tube and replayed the cardiomyocytes in a laminin coated 24 well culture plate.Four to six hours is sufficient for the cardiomyocytes to adhere to the surface. So transfection could be performed at six hours after plating. RNA IMAX transfection reagent was used to transplant cardiomyocytes with siRNAs.The culture media contains 25 micromolar blood Staten supplemented with 10%FBS, which we have found is better suited to perform longterm cardiomyocyte culture and induce proliferation analysis. After transfection, you can view the cardiomyocytes by microscopy utilizing a micro incubator to how's the cells for time-lapse imaging. These are brightfield images of transfected rod shaped cardiomyocytes at low and high magnification.Here, you can see day by day imaging, which showcases changes in adult mouse cardiomyocyte morphology. We confirm that the cardiomyocytes are healthy and contractile at early time points, as well as after D differentiation and longterm culture. Here's an example of Ki67 immunofluorescent staining demonstrating induced proliferation of adult cardiomyocytes in culture after siRNAs, a transfection.As you can see from the results using this technique, one can obtain healthy adult cardiomyocytes from mouse and rat and culture them for longterm study. In conclusion, once mastered this technique will allow us to study cardiomyocytes well beyond the current culturing protocols.

isolation-transfection-long-term-culture-adult-mouse-rat

Research

JoVE Journal

Biology

Primary Culture of Adult Rat Heart Myocytes

Cultured primary adult rodent heart cells are an important model system for cardiovascular research. Nevertheless, establishment of robust, viable cultured adult myocytes can be a technically challenging, rate-limiting step for many researchers. Here we described a protocol to obtain a high yield of adult rat heart myocytes that remain viable in culture for several days. The heart is isolated and perfused with collagenase and protease under low Ca2+ conditions to recover single myocytes. Ca2+-tolerant cells are obtained by stepwise increases in extracellular Ca2+ concentration in three subsequent wash steps. Cells are filtered, resuspended in culture medium, and plated on laminin coated slips. Cultured myocytes obtained using this protocol are viable for up to four days and are suitable for most experiments including electrophysiology, biochemistry, imaging and molecular biology.

In this paper, we described a typical way to isolate and culture adult rat heart myocytes. Collagenase and protease are used to digest and isolate single myocytes. Myocytes cultured follow this protocol meet most experiment requirements.

Cultured primary adult rodent heart cells are an important model system for cardiovascular research.  Nevertheless, establishment of robust, viable ...

Long-term Culture of Human Breast Cancer Specimens and Their Analysis Using Optical Projection Tomography

Breast cancer is a leading cause of mortality in the Western world. It is well established that the spread of breast cancer, first locally and later distally, is a major factor in patient prognosis. Experimental systems of breast cancer rely on cell lines usually derived from primary tumours or pleural effusions. Two major obstacles hinder this research: (i) some known sub-types of breast cancers (notably poor prognosis luminal B tumours) are not represented within current line collections; (ii) the influence of the tumour microenvironment is not usually taken into account.
We demonstrate a technique to culture primary breast cancer specimens of all sub-types. This is achieved by using three-dimensional (3D) culture system in which small pieces of tumour are embedded in soft rat collagen I cushions. Within 2-3 weeks, the tumour cells spread into the collagen and form various structures similar to those observed in human tumours1. Viable adipocytes, epithelial cells and fibroblasts within the original core were evident on histology. Malignant epithelial cells with squamoid morphology were demonstrated invading into the surrounding collagen. Nuclear pleomorphism was evident within these cells, along with mitotic figures and apoptotic bodies.
We have employed Optical Projection Tomography (OPT), a 3D imaging technology, in order to quantify the extent of tumour spread in culture. We have used OPT to measure the bulk volume of the tumour culture, a parameter routinely measured during the neo-adjuvant treatment of breast cancer patients to assess response to drug therapy. 
Here, we present an opportunity to culture human breast tumours without sub-type bias and quantify the spread of those ex vivo. This method could be used in the future to quantify drug sensitivity in original tumour. This may provide a more predictive model than currently used cell lines.

We have developed a collagen-based in vitro assay which promotes proliferation and invasion from samples of all breast cancer subtypes. Optical Projection Tomography, a three dimensional microscopy technique was utilised to visualise and quantify tumour expansion. This assay may be used to quantify drug response of individual tumour samples.

Breast cancer is a leading cause of mortality in the Western world. It is well established that the spread of breast cancer, first locally and later ...

Single Cell Transcriptional Profiling of Adult Mouse Cardiomyocytes

While numerous studies have examined gene expression changes from homogenates of heart tissue, this prevents studying the inherent stochastic variation between cells within a tissue. Isolation of pure cardiomyocyte populations through a collagenase perfusion of mouse hearts facilitates the generation of single cell microarrays for whole transcriptome gene expression, or qPCR of specific targets using nanofluidic arrays. We describe here a procedure to examine single cell gene expression profiles of cardiomyocytes isolated from the heart. This paradigm allows for the evaluation of metrics of interest which are not reliant on the mean (for example variance between cells within a tissue) which is not possible when using conventional whole tissue workflows for the evaluation of gene expression (Figure 1). We have achieved robust amplification of the single cell transcriptome yielding micrograms of double stranded cDNA that facilitates the use of microarrays on individual cells. In the procedure we describe the use of NimbleGen arrays which were selected for their ease of use and ability to customize their design. Alternatively, a reverse transcriptase - specific target amplification (RT-STA) reaction, allows for qPCR of hundreds of targets by nanofluidic PCR. Using either of these approaches, it is possible to examine the variability of expression between cells, as well as examining expression profiles of rare cell types from within a tissue. Overall, the single cell gene expression approach allows for the generation of data that can potentially identify idiosyncratic expression profiles that are typically averaged out when examining expression of millions of cells from typical homogenates generated from whole tissues.

Single cell expression profiling allows the detailed gene expression analysis of individual cells. We describe methods for the isolation of cardiomyocytes, and preparing the resulting lysates for either whole transcriptome microarray or qPCR of specific targets.

While numerous studies have examined gene expression changes from homogenates of heart tissue, this prevents studying the inherent stochastic variation ...

Isolation and Primary Culture of Rat Hepatic Cells

Primary hepatocyte culture is a valuable tool that has been extensively used in basic research of liver function, disease, pathophysiology, pharmacology and other related subjects. The method based on two-step collagenase perfusion for isolation of intact hepatocytes was first introduced by Berry and Friend in 1969 1 and, since then, has undergone many modifications. The most commonly used technique was described by Seglenin 1976 2. Essentially, hepatocytes are dissociated from anesthetized adult rats by a non-recirculating collagenase perfusion through the portal vein. The isolated cells are then filtered through a 100 &mu;m pore size mesh nylon filter, and cultured onto plates. After 4-hour culture, the medium is replaced with serum-containing or serum-free medium, e.g. HepatoZYME-SFM, for additional time to culture. These procedures require surgical and sterile culture steps that can be better demonstrated by video than by text. Here, we document the detailed steps for these procedures by both video and written protocol, which allow consistently in the generation of viable hepatocytes in large numbers.

Primary hepatocytes provide a valuable tool to evaluate biochemical, molecular, and metabolic functions in a physiologically relevant experimental system. We describe a reliable protocol for rat in situ liver perfusion, which consistently generates viable hepatocytes up to 1.0 &times; 108 cells per preparation with cell viability between 88 ~ 96%.

Primary hepatocyte culture is a valuable tool that has been extensively used in basic research of liver function, disease, pathophysiology, pharmacology ...

Serial Enrichment of Spermatogonial Stem and Progenitor Cells (SSCs) in Culture for Derivation of Long-term Adult Mouse SSC Lines

Spermatogonial stem and progenitor cells (SSCs) of the testis represent a classic example of adult mammalian stem cells and preserve fertility for nearly the lifetime of the animal. While the precise mechanisms that govern self-renewal and differentiation in vivo are challenging to study, various systems have been developed previously to propagate murine SSCs in vitro using a combination of specialized culture media and feeder cells1-3.
Most in vitro forays into the biology of SSCs have derived cell lines from neonates, possibly due to the difficulty in obtaining adult cell lines4. However, the testis continues to mature up until ~5 weeks of age in most mouse strains. In the early post-natal period, dramatic changes occur in the architecture of the testis and in the biology of both somatic and spermatogenic cells, including alterations in expression levels of numerous stem cell-related genes. Therefore, neonatally-derived SSC lines may not fully recapitulate the biology of adult SSCs that persist after the adult testis has reached a steady state.
Several factors have hindered the production of adult SSC lines historically. First, the proportion of functional stem cells may decrease during adulthood, either due to intrinsic or extrinsic factors5,6. Furthermore, as with other adult stem cells, it has been difficult to enrich SSCs sufficiently from total adult testicular cells without using a combination of immunoselection or other sorting strategies7. Commonly employed strategies include the use of cryptorchid mice as a source of donor cells due to a higher ratio of stem cells to other cell types8. Based on the hypothesis that removal of somatic cells from the initial culture disrupts interactions with the stem cell niche that are essential for SSC survival, we previously developed methods to derive adult lines that do not require immunoselection or cryptorchid donors but rather employ serial enrichment of SSCs in culture, referred to hereafter as SESC2,3.
The method described below entails a simple procedure for deriving adult SSC lines by dissociating adult donor seminiferous tubules, followed by plating of cells on feeders comprised of a testicular stromal cell line (JK1)3. Through serial passaging, strongly adherent, contaminating non-germ cells are depleted from the culture with concomitant enrichment of SSCs. Cultures produced in this manner contain a mixture of spermatogonia at different stages of differentiation, which contain SSCs, based on long-term self renewal capability. The crux of the SESC method is that it enables SSCs to make the difficult transition from self-renewal in vivo to long-term self-renewal in vitro in a radically different microenvironment, produces long-term SSC lines, free of contaminating somatic cells, and thereby enables subsequent experimental manipulation of SSCs.

Serial Enrichment of Spermatogonial Stem and Progenitor Cells SSCs in Culture for Derivation of Long-term Adult Mouse SSC Lines

A simple method to derive and maintain spermatogonial stem and progenitor cell lines from adult mice is presented here. The method utilizes feeder cells originating from the somatic cell compartment of the adult mouse testis. This technique is applicable to common mouse strains, including transgenic, knock-out, and knock-in mice.

Spermatogonial stem and progenitor cells (SSCs) of the testis represent a classic example of adult mammalian stem cells and preserve fertility for nearly ...

Isolation and Culture of Neonatal Mouse Cardiomyocytes

Cultured neonatal cardiomyocytes have long been used to study myofibrillogenesis and myofibrillar functions. Cultured cardiomyocytes allow for easy investigation and manipulation of biochemical pathways, and their effect on the biomechanical properties of spontaneously beating cardiomyocytes.	
The following 2-day protocol describes the isolation and culture of neonatal mouse cardiomyocytes. We show how to easily dissect hearts from neonates, dissociate the cardiac tissue and enrich cardiomyocytes from the cardiac cell-population. We discuss the usage of different enzyme mixes for cell-dissociation, and their effects on cell-viability. The isolated cardiomyocytes can be subsequently used for a variety of morphological, electrophysiological, biochemical, cell-biological or biomechanical assays. We optimized the protocol for robustness and reproducibility, by using only commercially available solutions and enzyme mixes that show little lot-to-lot variability. We also address common problems associated with the isolation and culture of cardiomyocytes, and offer a variety of options for the optimization of isolation and culture conditions.

Primary mouse cardiomyocyte cultures are one of the pivotal tools for the investigation of myofibrillar organization and function. The following protocol describes the isolation and culture of primary cardiomyocytes from neonatal mouse hearts. The resulting cardiomyocyte cultures may be subsequently used for a variety of biomechanical, biochemical and cell-biological assays.

Cultured neonatal cardiomyocytes have long been used to study  myofibrillogenesis and myofibrillar functions. Cultured cardiomyocytes allow  for easy ...

Isolation, Culture, and Functional Characterization of Adult Mouse Cardiomyoctyes

The use of primary cardiomyocytes (CMs) in culture has provided a powerful complement to murine models of heart disease in advancing our understanding of heart disease. In particular, the ability to study ion homeostasis, ion channel function, cellular excitability and excitation-contraction coupling and their alterations in diseased conditions and by disease-causing mutations have led to significant insights into cardiac diseases. Furthermore, the lack of an adequate immortalized cell line to mimic adult CMs, and the limitations of neonatal CMs (which lack many of the structural and functional biomechanics characteristic of adult CMs) in culture have hampered our understanding of the complex interplay between signaling pathways, ion channels and contractile properties in the adult heart strengthening the importance of studying adult isolated cardiomyocytes. Here, we present methods for the isolation, culture, manipulation of gene expression by adenoviral-expressed proteins, and subsequent functional analysis of cardiomyocytes from the adult mouse. The use of these techniques will help to develop mechanistic insight into signaling pathways that regulate cellular excitability, Ca2+ dynamics and contractility and provide a much more physiologically relevant characterization of cardiovascular disease.

Here we describe the isolation of adult mouse cardiomyoctyes using a Langendorff perfusion system. The resulting cells are Ca2+-tolerant, electrically quiescent and can be cultured and transfected with adeno- or lentiviruses to manipulate gene expression. Their functionality can also be analyzed using the MMSYS system and patch clamp techniques.

The use of primary cardiomyocytes (CMs) in culture has provided a powerful complement to murine models of heart disease in advancing our understanding of ...

Isolation and Physiological Analysis of Mouse Cardiomyocytes

Cardiomyocytes, the workhorse cell of the heart, contain exquisitely organized cytoskeletal and contractile elements that generate the contractile force used to pump blood. Individual cardiomyocytes were first isolated over 40 years ago in order to better study the physiology and structure of heart muscle. Techniques have rapidly improved to include enzymatic digestion via coronary perfusion. More recently, analyzing the contractility and calcium flux of isolated myocytes has provided a vital tool in the cellular and sub-cellular analysis of heart failure. Echocardiography and EKGs provide information about the heart at an organ level only. Cardiomyocyte cell culture systems exist, but cells lack physiologically essential structures such as organized sarcomeres and t-tubules required for myocyte function within the heart. In the protocol presented here, cardiomyocytes are isolated via Langendorff perfusion. The heart is removed from the mouse, mounted via the aorta to a cannula, perfused with digestion enzymes, and cells are introduced to increasing calcium concentrations. Edge and sarcomere detection software is used to analyze contractility, and a calcium binding fluorescent dye is used to visualize calcium transients of electrically paced cardiomyocytes; increasing understanding of the role cellular changes play in heart dysfunction. Traditionally used to test drug effects on cardiomyocytes, we employ this system to compare myocytes from WT mice and mice with a mutation that causes dilated cardiomyopathy. This protocol is unique in its comparison of live cells from mice with known heart function and known genetics. Many experimental conditions are reliably compared, including genetic or environmental manipulation, infection, drug treatment, and more. Beyond physiologic data, isolated cardiomyocytes are easily fixed and stained for cytoskeletal elements. Isolating cardiomyocytes via perfusion is an extremely versatile method, useful in studying cellular changes that accompany or lead to heart failure in a variety of experimental conditions.

Individual cardiomyocytes from wild type and mutant mice can be isolated from the heart in order to study their contractility and calcium transients. This allows characterization of the contribution of cellular dysfunction to heart dysfunction from any cause.

Cardiomyocytes, the workhorse cell of the heart, contain exquisitely organized cytoskeletal and contractile elements that generate the contractile force ...

Isolation and Culture of Dental Epithelial Stem Cells from the Adult Mouse Incisor

Understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie tooth regeneration and renewal has become a topic of great interest1-4, and the mouse incisor provides a model for these processes. This remarkable organ grows continuously throughout the animal&#39;s life and generates all the necessary cell types from active pools of adult stem cells housed in the labial (toward the lip) and lingual (toward the tongue) cervical loop (CL) regions. Only the dental stem cells from the labial CL give rise to ameloblasts that generate enamel, the outer covering of teeth, on the labial surface. This asymmetric enamel formation allows abrasion at the incisor tip, and progenitors and stem cells in the proximal incisor ensure that the dental tissues are constantly replenished. The ability to isolate and grow these progenitor or stem cells in vitro allows their expansion and opens doors to numerous experiments not achievable in vivo, such as high throughput testing of potential stem cell regulatory factors. Here, we describe and demonstrate a reliable and consistent method to culture cells from the labial CL of the mouse incisor.

The continuously growing mouse incisor provides a model for studying renewal of dental tissues from dental epithelial stem cells (DESCs). A robust system for consistently and reliably obtaining these cells from the incisor and expanding them in vitro is reported here.

Understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie tooth regeneration and renewal has become a topic of great interest1-4, and the mouse ...

Isolation and Culture of Adult Mouse Cardiomyocytes for Cell Signaling and in vitro Cardiac Hypertrophy

Technological advances have made genetically modified mice, including transgenic and gene knockout mice, an essential tool in many research fields. Adult cardiomyocytes are widely accepted as a good model for cardiac cellular physiology and pathophysiology, as well as for pharmaceutical intervention. Genetically modified mice preclude the need for complicated cardiomyocyte infection processes to generate the desired genotype, which are inefficient due to cardiomyocytes&#8217; terminal differentiation. Isolation and culture of high quantity and quality functional cardiomyocytes will dramatically benefit cardiovascular research and provide an important tool for cell signaling transduction research and drug development. Here, we describe a well-established method for isolation of adult mouse cardiomyocytes that can be implemented with little training. The mouse heart is excised and cannulated to an isolated heart system, then perfused with a calcium-free and high potassium buffer followed by type II collagenase digestion in Langendorff retrograde perfusion mode. This protocol yields a consistent result for the collection of functional adult mouse cardiomyocytes from a variety of genetically modified mice.

Isolation and Culture of Adult Mouse Cardiomyocytes for Cell Signaling and in vitro Cardiac Hypertrophy

We describe a reliable method for isolation of adult mouse cardiomyocytes. This protocol yields a consistent result for the culture of functional adult cardiomyocytes from a variety of genetically modified mice.

Technological advances have made genetically modified mice, including transgenic and gene knockout mice, an essential tool in many research fields. Adult ...