Name: application of multicolor flpout technique to study high resolution single cell morphologies and cell interactions of glia in drosophila
Uploaded: 2017-10-20T14:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Application of MultiColor FlpOut Technique to Study High Resolution Single Cell Morphologies and Cell Interactions of Glia in Drosophila at JoVE.com

The authors thank Arnim Jenett, Aljoscha Nern, and other members of the Rubin laboratory for advice and sharing of unpublished reagents and the Janelia Fly Light Project Team for generating confocal images. The authors also thank the members of the Gaul laboratory for comments on the manuscript.

1. Preparing Flies for MultiColor FlpOut (MCFO) Experiments
NOTE: The MCFO technique refers to a modified version of the so called Flp-mediated stop cassette excision (FlpOut). Transgenic MCFO flies carry a heat shock promoter (hsp)-Flp recombinase and different reporters under UAS control. Each reporter consists of a common backbone of a myristoylated (myr) super folder green fluorescent protein (sfGFP), in which 10 copies of an epitope tag (e.g., HA, FLAG or V5) have been inserted. Th...

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This protocol describes an easy and efficient method to study the morphology of different cell types within a tissue of interest at high resolution. With the MCFO technique, multiple reporters with different epitope tags are used in combination for multicolor stochastic labeling (Figure 2). Similar to other methods such as Brainbow/Flybow15,16,17, MCFO increases the label diversity through marker co...

Glia, the non-neuronal cell population of the nervous system (NS), were long believed to provide a static framework for neurons and therefore were not studied in detail. However, in humans, glia constitute the vast majority of cells in the NS (~90%) and fall into several different categories, including astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, microglia and Schwann cells. In Drosophila, glia constitute about 10% of the cells in the NS. Intriguingly, their morphologies and functions are remarkably similar to those found in vertebrates1,2. Their morphologies include blood-brain barrier (BBB) forming epithelia, ensheathing, and astrocyte-like cells.
The Drosophila central nervous system (CNS) consists of the following principal structures: cortex regions that contain the neuronal cell bodies; neuropils that harbor synaptic connections; small and large axon tracts that connect the different neuropiles; peripheral nerves that connect sensory organs and muscles with the CNS (Figure 1). Glia are found associated with all these anatomical structures: Cortex glia (CG) in the cortical regions, astrocyte-like glia (ALG) and ensheathing glia (EG) in the neuropile regions, ensheathing glia are also associated with central axon tracts and peripheral nerves (EGN), and finally, two sheet-like glia, perineurial glia (PG) and subperineurial (SPG), which together form a contiguous layer that covers the entire NS (Figure 2).
Previous studies have shown that glia play important roles in the development of the NS; they monitor neuronal cell numbers by reacting to systemically circulating insulin-like peptides, provide trophic support to neurons, such as the astrocyte-neuron lactate shuttle, and eliminate dying neurons by phagocytosis3,4,5,6. In the mature NS, glia maintain the BBB, take up neurotransmitters and maintain ionic homeostasis, act as the major immune cells in the NS, since macrophages cannot breach the BBB, and modulate synaptic activity as well as animal behavior6,7,8,9,10,11.
Whether the different glial subtypes perform specialized functions remains an important open question. However, a systematic genome-wide analysis of glia, especially in the adult, has been hampered by a lack of appropriate genetic tools for their manipulation. Here, a method that allows the efficient and easy characterization of cell shapes to study complex cell-cell interactions is presented. This technique has been applied to characterize the morphology of the different glial subtypes in the adult Drosophila brain, but, depending on the specific GAL4 driver used, it could be adapted to study neurons12,13, any kind of intermingling cells, and in principle any tissue in any developmental stages.

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Water bath</td>
			<td>Grant</td>
			<td>GD100</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>PCR tubes</td>
			<td>Sarstedt</td>
			<td>72.737.002</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Forceps</td>
			<td>Dumont</td>
			<td>11251-20</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Dissecting dish 30 mm x 12 mmm</td>
			<td>Electron Microscopy Sciences</td>
			<td>70543-30</td>
			<td>Glass dissection dish</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Pyrex 3 Depression Glass Spot Plate</td>
			<td>Corning</td>
			<td>7223-34</td>
			<td>Glass dissection plates</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sylgard Black</td>
			<td>SYLGARD, Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>805998</td>
			<td>home made with charcoal</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>ExpressFive S2 cell culture medium</td>
			<td>Invitrogen</td>
			<td>10486-025</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>20% PFA</td>
			<td>Electron Microscopy Sciences</td>
			<td>15713</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Triton X-100</td>
			<td>Roth</td>
			<td>3051.3</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Normal goat serum</td>
			<td>Jackson Laboratories</td>
			<td>005-000-121</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Normal donkey serum</td>
			<td>Jackson Laboratories</td>
			<td>017-000-121</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Bovine Serum Albumin</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>A9647</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Rabbit HA-tag</td>
			<td>Cell Signaling</td>
			<td>C29F4</td>
			<td>Primary antibody, dilution 1:500</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Rat FLAG-tag</td>
			<td>Novus Biologicals</td>
			<td>NBP1-06712</td>
			<td>Primary antibody, dilution 1:100</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Mouse V5-tag:DyLight 549</td>
			<td>AdSerotec</td>
			<td>0411</td>
			<td>Conjugated antibody, dilution 1:200</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>anti-rabbit AlexaFluor 488</td>
			<td>Invitrogen</td>
			<td>A11034</td>
			<td>Secondary antibody, dilution 1:250</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>anti-rat DyLight 647</td>
			<td>Jackson Laboratories</td>
			<td>712-605-153</td>
			<td>Secondary antibody, dilution 1:100</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Vecta Shield</td>
			<td>Vector Laboratories</td>
			<td>H-1000</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>SlowFate Gold</td>
			<td>Invitrogen</td>
			<td>S36937</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Secure Seal Spacer</td>
			<td>Grace Biolabs</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Contact company for ordering</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Microscope cover glass 22 X 60 mm</td>
			<td>Marienfeld</td>
			<td>101152</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Microscope cover glass 22 x 22 mm</td>
			<td>Roth</td>
			<td>H874</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Stereo Microscope, Leica MZ6</td>
			<td>Leica</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Confocal laser scanning microscope LSM710</td>
			<td>Zeiss</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Immersol</td>
			<td>Zeiss</td>
			<td>518 F</td>
			<td>Immersion oil for fluorescence-microscopy, halogen free</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Immersol</td>
			<td>Zeiss</td>
			<td>W 2010</td>
			<td>Immersion fluid for water-immersion objectives, halogen free</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>R56F03-GAL4 (EG)</td>
			<td>Bloomington Stock Center</td>
			<td>39157</td>
			<td>GAL4 driver</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>R86E01-GAL4 (ALG)</td>
			<td>Bloomington Stock Center</td>
			<td>45914</td>
			<td>GAL4 driver</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>hspFlpPestOpt; UAS-FRT-stop-FRT-myr-smGFP-HA, UAS-FRT-stop-FRT-myr-smGFP-FLAG, UAS-FRT-stop-FRT-myr-smGFP-V5</td>
			<td>Bloomington Stock Center</td>
			<td>64085</td>
			<td>UAS reporter (https://bdscweb.webtest.iu.edu/stock/misc/mcfo.php)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Fiji (Image J)</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Image analysis software</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Multi Time Macro</td>
			<td>Zeiss</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Software for automated scanning</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

application of multicolor flpout technique to study high resolution single cell morphologies and cell interactions of glia in drosophila

Cells display different morphologies and complex anatomical relationships. How do cells interact with their neighbors? Do the interactions differ between cell types or even within a given type? What kinds of spatial rules do they follow? The answers to such fundamental questions in vivo have been hampered so far by a lack of tools for high resolution single cell labeling. Here, a detailed protocol to target single cells with a MultiColor FlpOut (MCFO) technique is provided. This method relies on three differently tagged reporters (HA, FLAG and V5) under UAS control that are kept silent by a transcriptional terminator flanked by two FRT sites (FRT-stop-FRT). A heat shock pulse induces the expression of a heat shock-induced Flp recombinase, which randomly removes the FRT-stop-FRT cassettes in individual cells: expression occurs only in cells that also express a GAL4 driver. This leads to an array of differently colored cells of a given cell type that allows the visualization of individual cell morphologies at high resolution. As an example, the MCFO technique can be combined with specific glial GAL4 drivers to visualize the morphologies of the different glial subtypes in the adult Drosophila brain.

This section illustrates examples of results that can be obtained by using the MCFO technique in the adult Drosophila brain. Figure 3 shows a schematic of the method. Three differently membrane-tagged reporters (myr-smGFP-HA, myr-smGFP-FLAG and myr-smGFP-V5) under UAS control are kept silent by a transcriptional terminator flanked by two FRT sites (FRT-stop-FRT). A heat shock pulse induces the expression of Flp recombinase which rand...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Application of MultiColor FlpOut Technique to Study High Resolution Single Cell Morphologies and Cell Interactions of Glia in Drosophila at JoVE.com

Application of MultiColor FlpOut Technique to Study High Resolution Single Cell Morphologies and Cell Interactions of Glia in Drosophila

Cells display different morphologies and establish a variety of interactions with their neighbors. This protocol describes how to reveal the morphology of single cells and to investigate cell-cell interaction by using the well-established Gal4/UAS expression system.

Application of MultiColor FlpOut Technique to Study High Resolution Single Cell Morphologies and Cell Interactions of Glia in Drosophila

Cells display different morphologies and complex anatomical relationships. How do cells interact with their neighbors? Do the interactions differ between ...

The overall goal of this technique is to visualize single cell morphologies in complex anatomical tissues, thus simplifying the study of cell cell interaction in Drosophila. This method can help to answer key questions regarding complex morphologies and cell cell interactions using the fruit fly. The main advantage of this technique is that it can be adapted to the study of single cell morphologies in any tissue and at any developmental stage.Demonstrating the procedure will be Anja Kieser, a technician in our laboratory. The MCFO technique modifies the standard FlpOut technique as follows. A heat shock FLP recombinase and different reporters remain under UAS control, however, each reporter has a common backbone of a myristoylated superfolder GFP, in which copies of an epitope tag have been inserted.The resulting non-fluorescent proteins are named spaghetti monster GFPs and are identified with antibodies. Depending on the number of excisions, a different combination of epitopes gets expressed. Because the HSP promoter is slightly active at 25 degrees Celsius, set up crosses at 18 degrees Celsius where it is truly inactive.Then, wait around 20 days to obtain the F1 generation. Sort the F1 females and males into separate vials. To heat shock them, first transfer them into fresh food vials when they are three to four days old.Younger flies can be too delicate to heat shock. Next, transfer the vials into a 37 degree Celsius water bath. Submerge them deeply to ensure a homogenous heat shock.For sparse labeling of glial cells, start with five to eight minutes of heat shock and then optimize. The optimal heat shock time will sparsely label the target cells and its relation depends on the specific GAL4 driver in use. After the heat shock, lay the vials horizontally on the bench for a few minutes to cool them down.Now, start maintaining the flies at 25 degrees Celsius in the same vials. After two days, reporter expression will be optimal and the flies can be dissected. In preparation, put three deep depression wells on ice.Fill one well with 70%ethanol, one with PBS and one with S2 cell culture medium. Then, load a three centimeter dissecting dish lined with black silicone with cold S2.Conduct the entire dissections in S2 to keep the tissues healthy. Now, anesthetize the flies with carbon dioxide.Then, using forceps or a feather, put the flies in cold 70%ethanol for about 30 seconds followed by cold PBS for about 30 seconds and then transfer them into cold S2.Thus, wash all the flies to be dissected. Up to 10 flies of one genotype is usually enough. Now, within 30 minutes, dissect out all the brains.First, detach the head from the rest of the body and discard the body. Keep the head held with the off hand through the entire dissection or it will be very difficult to regain a grip on it. Next, pull out one eye by gripping the tissue only just below the retina.Then pull off the other eye and thus expose the brain and surrounding tissues. Next, remove all the tracheal tissue and remaining cuticle around the brain, until the brain tissue appears clean. All the tracheal tissue must be removed for optimal staining results.This is all that is needed to prepare the brain for fixation. Proceed with dissecting all the brains, while keeping the dissected brains in cold S2.Try to have up to 10 brains prepared per microcentrifuge tube for optimal staining. Transfer the isolated brains using a P10 pipette tip into a 200 microliter microcentrifuge tube with fixative solution.Never handle the brains using forceps. Incubate the tissues protected from light. Avoid aspirating the brains during solution transfers.To remove the fixative, use three or more 15 minute washes with washing solution. Then block the tissues with blocking solution for 30 minutes or longer. Next, replace the blocking solution with primary antibodies diluted in wash solution and incubate the brains overnight at four degrees Celsius.To remove the primary antibodies, use three one hour washes in wash solution. Next, add secondary fluorophore conjugated antibodies in wash solution and incubate the brains overnight at four degrees Celsius or for four hours at room temperature. To completely wash off the unbound antibodies, use three one hour washes in wash solution followed by a longer wash with PBS.Then mount the brains. Prepare two cover slips with an imagining spacer. In the spacer and on the extra cover slip, apply 10 microliters of mounting medium with an anti-fade agent.Next, using a P10 pipette, transfer the brains to the cover slip, depositing them next to the medium along with some PBS. Do not let the tissue dry out. Now, carefully move the brains into the mounting medium using the pipette and finally move them to the medium in the spacer and arrange them with forceps.Then, remove the adhesive liner on the spacers and attach a cover slip. Secure the cover slip with a little pressure using forceps and proceed immediately with imaging or store the slides at minus 20 degrees Celsius for later analysis. Using the described methods, three different membrane tagged reporters are kept silent by transcriptional terminators flanked by FRT sites.When the animals were heat shocked, the FLP recombinase was expressed and randomly removed the terminators, leading to the expression of different combinations of reporters. Overall, the different reporter combinations provide seven different colors, thus multiple single cell morphologies can be visualized and studied individually. Various heat shock times were tested with EG-GAL4 and ALG-GAL4.The single cell labeling was analyzed in the antennal lobe region of the brain. The EG-GAL4 driver expressed in ensheathing glial cells that all ensheathed on the surface of the antennal lobe. By comparison, astrocyte-like glia targeted by the ALG-GAL4, covered mostly non-overlapping areas of the antennal lobe.After watching this video, you should have a good understanding of how to label single cells in solution. In order to understand their complex and anatomical relationships using Drosophila and in principle and in model organism in which the binary system GAL4 UIS may be applied. While attempting this procedure for the first time, it's important to remember first to optimize the heat shock time and to follow as much as possible the single steps of the staining protocol in order to obtain the best results.

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An Automated Method to Determine the Performance of Drosophila in Response to Temperature Changes in Space and Time

Temperature is a ubiquitous environmental factor that affects how species distribute and behave. Different species of Drosophila fruit flies have specific ...

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure

Valid and efficient measures for assessing the quality of parent-child relationships are needed to facilitate research and evidence-based practice with ...

Radiotracer Administration for High Temporal Resolution Positron Emission Tomography of the Human Brain: Application to FDG-fPET

Functional positron emission tomography (fPET) provides a method to track molecular targets in the human brain. With a radioactively-labelled glucose ...

An Adjustable High-Definition Imaging System for Behavioral Studies of Drosophila Adults

An Adjustable High-Definition Imaging System for Behavioral Studies of Drosophila Adults

Drosophila melanogaster is a very powerful model in biological research, but a bad model for photography or videography. This paper describes a simple but ...