Name: culture and transfection of zebrafish primary cells
Uploaded: 2018-08-17T13:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Culture and Transfection of Zebrafish Primary Cells at JoVE.com

We thank T. Fritsch, A. Wolf-Asseburg, I. Linde and S.-M. Tokarski for excellent animal care and technical support. We are grateful to all members of the K&#246;ster lab for intense and helpful discussions. We gratefully acknowledge funding by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (KO 1949/5-1) and the Federal State of Lower Saxony, Nieders&#228;chsisches Vorab (VWZN2889).

All animal work described here is in accordance with legal regulations (EU-Directive 2010/63). Maintenance and handling of fish has been approved by local authorities and by the animal welfare representative of the Braunschweig University of Technology and the Lower Saxony State Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (LAVES, Oldenburg, Germany; Az. &#167;4 (02.05) TSchB TU BS).
1. Preparation of Primary Cells from Zebrafish Embryos
<ol>
	<li>Preparation of 2 days post fertiliz...

<ol>
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Here, we present two different protocols to culture primary cells from either 2 dpf zebrafish embryos or adult zebrafish brain.
The preparation of primary cell cultures from 2 dpf zebrafish is relatively easy to perform for anyone with experience in basic cell culture techniques. However, to obtain good and reproducible results, a sufficient number of embryos as starting material is crucial (100 is the minimum). During the raising of the embryos, all possible sources of contamination must be a...

The zebrafish (Danio rerio, D. rerio) is a popular model vertebrate for numerous fields of basic and biomedical research1. Zebrafish embryos develop rapidly ex utero, are transparent, and fit under a microscope, thus providing excellent prerequisites for studying vertebrate development in a living organism. Due to the genetic tractability of zebrafish2, many stable transgenic reporter lines with cell type-specific expression of various fluorescent markers have been established allowing for the observation of specific cell populations. The zebrafish community offers a broad variety of so-called Gal4-driver lines which carry a transgene expressing the synthetic Kal4TA4 (or the KalTA3-equivalent GalFF) gene with the Gal4-DNA-binding domain of yeast fused to viral transcriptional activation domains under the control of cell type-specific enhancers. These driver lines are crossed to effector lines which carry transgenes consisting of a defined upstream activating sequence (UAS) fused to a reporter gene. The Kal4TA4 protein binds to the UAS element, thus activating the cell type-selective expression of the reporter gene3,4. This approach allows for highly diverse combinatorial studies of almost all available enhancer and reporter elements in double-transgenic animals.
However, in-depth live imaging with focus on individual cells or their subcellular contents is limited in a whole and constantly changing embryo. To address specific cell biological questions with highest resolution, the use of cell cultures is often preferable. Some cell lines of zebrafish exist, but they are considered as heavily selected5,6,7 and their propagation is often time-consuming. Furthermore, all the available cell lines are fibroblast derived, limiting experiments using cell culture to one type of cells. Therefore, we established both an efficient and easy-to-use protocol to prepare primary cells directly from zebrafish embryos and adult zebrafish brain, together with approaches to increase the longevity of the culture and to broaden the diversity of cultivated cell types. In addition, we present a procedure to transfect embryonic primary cells with expression constructs for fluorescent organelle markers. Thus, cellular morphologies and subcellular structures can be analyzed with high spatial and temporal resolution in distinct cell types which retain their key features.

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Fish lines</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>AB (wild-type)</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td>established by Streisinger and colleagues, available from the Zebrafish International Resource Center (ZIRC)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Tg(ptf1a:eGFP)jh1</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td>stable transgenic line in which the enhancer of the zebrafish gene ptf1a drives expression of the fluorescent protein EGFP (Parsons et al., 2007)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Tg(XITubb:DsRed)zf148</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td>stable transgenic line in which the Xenopus neural-specific beta tubulin promoter drives expression of the fluorescent protein DsRed&#160; (Peri and N&#252;sslein-Volhard, 2008)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Name</td>
			<td>Company</td>
			<td>Catalog Number</td>
			<td>Comments</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Equipment</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>centrifuge</td>
			<td>Eppendorf</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>model 5804 R</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>ChemiDoc MP imaging system</td>
			<td>BioRad</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>model XRS+, used to acquire black-and-white images of Petri dishes containing 1 da embryos</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>confocal laser scanning microscope</td>
			<td>Leica microsystems</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>model SP8, equipped with 28 &#176;C temperature box and a 63 x objective</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>epifluorescent microscope</td>
			<td>Leica microsystems</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>model DM5500B, equipped with 28 &#176;C temperature box and a 40 x objective</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Gene Pulser Xcell with capacitance extender</td>
			<td>BioRad</td>
			<td>1652661</td>
			<td>electroporation device</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Horizontal shaker</td>
			<td>GFL</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>model 3011</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>incubator for cell culture (28 &#176;C)</td>
			<td>Memmert</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>model incubator I</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>incubator for embryos (28 &#176;C)</td>
			<td>Heraeus</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>type B6120</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>light microscope</td>
			<td>Zeiss</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>model TELAVAL 31</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>micro pipettes</td>
			<td>Gilson</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>sterile work bench</td>
			<td>Bio Base</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>with laminar flow and UV light</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>tweezers</td>
			<td>Dumont</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Style 5, Inox</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>vertical tube rotator</td>
			<td>Labinco B.V.</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>model LD-79</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Name</td>
			<td>Company</td>
			<td>Catalog Number</td>
			<td>Comments</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Software</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Image Lab Software</td>
			<td>BioRad</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>for the ChemiDoc MP imaging system from BioRad</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>ImageJ</td>
			<td>National Institutes of Health</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>used for counting 1 dpf embryos by applying the Count particles-tool to the respective black-and-white images; Rasband, W.S., ImageJ, U. S. National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA, https://imagej.nih.gov/ij/. (1997-2016).</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>LAS X</td>
			<td>Leica Microsystems</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>for both confocal and epifluorescent microscopes from Leica Microsystems</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Name</td>
			<td>Company</td>
			<td>Catalog Number</td>
			<td>Comments</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Plasmids</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>pCS-DCX-tdTomato</td>
			<td>K&#246;ster Lab</td>
			<td># 1599</td>
			<td>based on the backbone pCS2+ (Rupp et al., 1994)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>pCS-eGFP</td>
			<td>K&#246;ster Lab</td>
			<td># 7</td>
			<td>based on the backbone pCS2+ (Rupp et al., 1994)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>pCS-H2B-mseCFP</td>
			<td>K&#246;ster Lab</td>
			<td># 2379</td>
			<td>based on the backbone pCS2+ (Rupp et al., 1994)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>pCS-mClover</td>
			<td>K&#246;ster Lab</td>
			<td># 3865</td>
			<td>based on the backbone pCS2+ (Rupp et al., 1994)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>pCS-MitoTag-YFP</td>
			<td>K&#246;ster Lab</td>
			<td># 2199</td>
			<td>based on the backbone pCS2+ (Rupp et al., 1994)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>pCS-ss-RFP-KDEL</td>
			<td>K&#246;ster Lab</td>
			<td># 4330</td>
			<td>based on the backbone pCS2+ (Rupp et al., 1994)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>pCS-VAMP1-mCitrine</td>
			<td>K&#246;ster Lab</td>
			<td># 2291</td>
			<td>based on the backbone pCS2+ (Rupp et al., 1994)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>pSK-UAS:mCherry</td>
			<td>K&#246;ster Lab</td>
			<td># 1062</td>
			<td>based on the pBluescript-backbone of Stratagene</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Plasmid numbers refer to the database entries of the K&#246;ster lab. Plasmids are available upon request.</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Name</td>
			<td>Company</td>
			<td>Catalog Number</td>
			<td>Comments</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Plastic and glass ware</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>BD Falcon Cell Strainer (40 &#181;m)</td>
			<td>FALCON</td>
			<td>REF 352340</td>
			<td>distributed by BD Bioscience, used as &#8220;landing net&#8221; to dip deyolked embryos into ethanol and to transfer them quickly to fresh cell culture medium</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>1.5 mL reaction tubes</td>
			<td>Sarstedt</td>
			<td>72690550</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>24-well plate</td>
			<td>Sarstedt</td>
			<td>83.3922</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>50 mL falconic tube</td>
			<td>Sarstedt</td>
			<td>62.547.004</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>96-well plate</td>
			<td>Sarstedt</td>
			<td>83.3924.005</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>EasyStrainer (40 &#181;m)</td>
			<td>Greiner Bio-One</td>
			<td>542 040</td>
			<td>with venting slots; used to filter cells after collagenase-mediated dissociation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>electroporation cuvette (0.4 cm)</td>
			<td>Kisker</td>
			<td>4905022</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>glass coverslips</td>
			<td>Heinz Herenz Medizinalbedarf GmbH</td>
			<td>1051201</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Microscope slides</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher Scientific (Menzel Gl&#228;ser)</td>
			<td>631-0845</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Neubauer chamber</td>
			<td>Henneberg-Sander GmbH</td>
			<td>9020-01</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Pasteur pipettes (plastic; 3 mL)</td>
			<td>A. Hartenstein</td>
			<td>PP05</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Petri dishes (plastic; diameter 10 cm)</td>
			<td>Sarstedt</td>
			<td>821473</td>
			<td>for zebrafish embryos</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>pipette tips</td>
			<td>Sarstedt</td>
			<td>Blue (1000 &#181;l): 70762; Yellow (200 &#181;l): 70760002; White (10 &#181;L): 701116</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>sterile cell culture dishes (plastic; diameter 3 cm)</td>
			<td>TPP Techno Plastic Products AG</td>
			<td>93040</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>sterile cell culture dishes (plastic; diameter 6 cm)</td>
			<td>Sarstedt</td>
			<td>72690550</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>sterile Petri dishes (plastic; diameter 10 cm)</td>
			<td>Sarstedt</td>
			<td>83.3902</td>
			<td>for brain dissection</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Name</td>
			<td>Company</td>
			<td>Catalog Number</td>
			<td>Comments</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Chemicals and Reagents</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>sodium chloride</td>
			<td>Roth</td>
			<td>0601.1</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>4 % paraformaldehyde in 1 x PBS</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>16005</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>4&#39;,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI)</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>D1306</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>calcium nitrate tetrahydrate</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>C1396</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>ethanol p.a. 100%</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>46139</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>goat &#945;-mouse IgG (Fc specific) FITC conjugated</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>31547</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>HEPES</td>
			<td>Roth</td>
			<td>9105.4</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>high vacuum grease</td>
			<td>DOW CORNING</td>
			<td>3826-50</td>
			<td>silicon grease used for self-made glass bottom dishes</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>magnesium sulfate heptahydrate</td>
			<td>Merck</td>
			<td>105886</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>methylene blue</td>
			<td>Serva</td>
			<td>29198.01</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Monoclonal Anti-Tubulin, Acetylated antibody</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>T6793</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Aqua-Poly/Mount (mounting medium)</td>
			<td>Polyscience</td>
			<td>18606</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>poly-L-lysine</td>
			<td>Biochrom</td>
			<td>L 7240</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>potasssion chloride</td>
			<td>Merck</td>
			<td>104938</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Skim milk</td>
			<td>Roth</td>
			<td>68514-61-4</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Texas Red-X Phalloidin</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>T7471</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Tricaine</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>E10521</td>
			<td>Synonym: Ethyl 3-aminobenzoate methanesulfonate</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Triton X-100</td>
			<td>BioRad</td>
			<td>1610407</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Trypan Blue</td>
			<td>Gibco by Life Technologies</td>
			<td>15250061</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Name</td>
			<td>Company</td>
			<td>Catalog Number</td>
			<td>Comments</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Enzymes</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>collagenase (Type 2)</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>17101015</td>
			<td>dissolve powder in cell culture medium (8 mg/mL) and sterile-filter the solution, store aliquots at -20 &#176;C</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>pronase (from Streptomyces griseus)</td>
			<td>Roche</td>
			<td>11459643001</td>
			<td>distributed by Sigma-Aldrich, dissolve in 30% Danieau (10 mg/mL) and store aliquots at -20 &#176;C</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Name</td>
			<td>Company</td>
			<td>Catalog Number</td>
			<td>Comments</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Medium and solutions for cell culture</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>1 x PBS (Dulbecco&#39;s Phosphate Buffered Saline)</td>
			<td>Gibco by Life Technologies</td>
			<td>14190-169</td>
			<td>distributed by Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>CO2-independent medium</td>
			<td>Gibco by Life Technologies</td>
			<td>18045054</td>
			<td>distributed by Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>filtrated bovine serum (FBS)</td>
			<td>PAN-Biotech</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>individual batch</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>glutamine 100 x</td>
			<td>Gibco by Life Technologies</td>
			<td>25030081</td>
			<td>distributed by Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Leibovitz&#39;s L-15 medium</td>
			<td>Gibco by Life Technologies</td>
			<td>11415049</td>
			<td>distributed by Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>PenStrep (10,000 units/mL)</td>
			<td>Gibco by Life Technologies</td>
			<td>15140148</td>
			<td>distributed by Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

culture and transfection of zebrafish primary cells

Zebrafish embryos are transparent and develop rapidly outside the mother, thus allowing for excellent in vivo imaging of dynamic biological processes in an intact and developing vertebrate. However, the detailed imaging of the morphologies of distinct cell types and subcellular structures is limited in whole mounts. Therefore, we established an efficient and easy-to-use protocol to culture live primary cells from zebrafish embryos and adult tissue.
In brief, 2 dpf zebrafish embryos are dechorionated, deyolked, sterilized, and dissociated to single cells with collagenase. After a filtration step, primary cells are plated onto glass bottom dishes and cultivated for several days. Fresh cultures, as much as long term differenciated ones, can be used for high resolution confocal imaging studies. The culture contains different cell types, with striated myocytes and neurons being prominent on poly-L-lysine coating. To specifically label subcellular structures by fluorescent marker proteins, we also established an electroporation protocol which allows the transfection of plasmid DNA into different cell types, including neurons. Thus, in the presence of operator defined stimuli, complex cell behavior, and intracellular dynamics of primary zebrafish cells can be assessed with high spatial and temporal resolution. In addition, by using adult zebrafish brain, we demonstrate that the described dissociation technique, as well as the basic culturing conditions, also work for adult zebrafish tissue.

Figure 1G shows a transmitted light image of a typical culture derived from wild type embryos with striated myocytes and clusters of neuron-like cells being most abundant. To identify certain cell types more easily, a transgenic line with cell type-specific expression of a fluorescent protein can be used (Figure 1H).
Transfection of a pCS2+-based plasmid<sup class="xref...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Culture and Transfection of Zebrafish Primary Cells at JoVE.com

Culture and Transfection of Zebrafish Primary Cells

We present an efficient and easy-to-use protocol for preparing primary cell cultures of zebrafish embryos for transfection and live cell imaging as well as a protocol to prepare primary cells from adult zebrafish brain.

Zebrafish embryos are transparent and develop rapidly outside the mother, thus allowing for excellent in vivo imaging of dynamic biological processes in ...

This method provides the zebrafish community a tool for the the analysis of intercellular dynamics with a resolution unattainable in vivo. And also it allows to compensate for the lack of zebrafish cell lines. The main advantage of this technique is that you isolated and tranfect those primary cells directly from the original tissue so you do not need to keep cell lines.To begin the protocol prepare the zebrafish embryos two days post fertilization, or dpf. On day one set up several crossings of the zebrafish strain of choice. On day two mate to the fish and collect the eggs directly after spawning in a plastic 10 centimeter Petri dish.Remove the dead and contaminated eggs with a plastic Pasteur pipette. Wash the eggs once with Danieau 30%with 0.0001%weight per volume methylene blue. Then replace the medium with fresh Danieau 30%without methylene blue and incubate the eggs overnight at 28 degrees Celsius.On day three remove the dead and contaminated embryos and exchange the medium to Danieau 30%Then incubate the embryos overnight at 28 degrees Celsius. On day four remove the chorions by removing the medium until approximately 10 milliliters are left in the dish. Add one milliliter of one milligram per milliliter of pronase and incubate the embryos on a shaker for approximately 30 minutes at room temperature until all the chorions are detached.Next spread silicone grease around the hole on the underside of the dish bottoms and attach a cover slip using the grease as glue. Make sure that the grease seals the gap between the dish bottom and cover slip. Wash the glass bottomed dishes thoroughly but carefully with cold tap water and soap.Rinse the glass bottom dishes three times with deionized water to remove the soap. Then air dry the dish lids and dish bottoms and store them in a clean box until further use. On the day of culture preparation moisten the inside of both dish lids and dish bottoms with 70%ethanol.Place the dish lids and the dish bottoms facing the inner side up in a sterile workbench with laminar flow and UV light. Air dry the dishes until the ethanol has evaporated then apply UV light for 20 minutes. After this treatment dishes are assembled and sterile.To coat the dishes pipette 200 microliters of 0.1 milligram per milliliter poly-L-lysine in the middle of each glass bottom dish and spread the liquid on the cover slip by breaking surface tension with a pipette tip. Then incubate dishes for 60 minutes under the bench at room temperature. After the incubation wash them once with sterile 1x phosphate-buffered saline or PBS and remove the liquid.Keep dishes under the bench until further use. On day four the day of culture preparation transfer the embryos to a sterile cell culture dish with a fresh plastic Pasteur pipette. Remove the liquid step-wise until all the embryos are gathered in a big drop with a diameter of about two centimeters or less.Place the dish with the embryos in a sterile workbench and add carbon dioxide independent medium until the dish is half filled. To remove the yolk pipette the embryos up and down using a 200 microliter pipette tip. Successful deyolking can be recognized by the cloudiness of the medium.Next fill a cell culture dish with 70%ethanol and another cell culture dish with fresh cell culture medium. Use a cut off 1000 microliter pipette tip to transfer embryos into a sterile 40 micron cell strainer with a handle. Take the strainer by the handle and dip it into the dish with ethanol so that all embryos are submerged for five seconds.After the ethanol treatment immediately submerge the strainer with embryos in the dish with fresh cell culture medium. Then transfer the embryos into sterile 1.5 milliliter reaction tubes. Add collagenase type 2 to the embryos.Incubate the tubes on a vertical tube rotator. Dissociate the remaining cell clumps by pipetting the mixture up and down with a 1000 microliter pipette tip. Then filter the cell suspension through a sterile cell strainer with a venting slot into a 50 milliliter conical tube.Rinse the strainer with 10 milliliters of fresh cell culture medium. Centrifuge the cells for three minutes at 180 times g. After centrifugation carefully check for pellet formation.After that remove the supernatant and resuspend the cells in 200 microliters of fresh cell culture medium per 30 originally used embryos. Then pipette 200 microliters of the cell suspension directly on the glass area of a prepared poly-L-lysine coated glass bottom dish and let the cells attach for 60 minutes. Add six milliliters of fresh cell culture medium and incubate primary cells at 28 degrees Celsius.Then perform the desired imaging application using an inverted microscope at 28 degrees Celsius. Determine the cell number in a counting chamber. Then in a 1.5 milliliter reaction tube mix 10 micrograms of ultra-pure plasmid DNA with 0.5 million cells and adjust the total volume to 100 microliters with sterile PBS if needed.Thoroughly resuspend the solution for 20 seconds prior to electroporation. Next transfer the cell DNA mix immediately to an electroporation cuvette place the cuvette in an electroporation device and electroporate the sample. Directly after the electroporation transfer the cell DNA mix into a 1.5 milliliter reaction tube with 300 microliters of fresh cell culture medium.Finally plate 200 microliters of the cell suspension as done in previous sections. Using the method in this video transfection of the pCS2 positive-based plasmids encoding fluorescent organelle markers such as endoplasmic reticulum-targeted red fluorescent protein or mitochondria-targeted yellow fluorescent protein subcellular structures were visualized in great detail. Simultaneous analysis was performed via co-transfection of the fusion proteins MitoTag-YFP with the microtubule marker human doublecortin fused to the red fluorescent protein tdTomato and the nuclear marker Histone H2B fused to a cyan fluorescent protein.Selected images from a time lapse of the movement of vesicles positive for the membrane marker vesicle associated membrane protein one fused to the fluorescent protein mCitrine provides high temporal and spatial resolution. Morphological changes over time can be easily observed by labeling the whole cell by the expression of a bright fluorescent protein. They electroporation protocol is also suitable for combinatorial genetics.The dissociation technique and the basic culture conditions were also applied to adult brain tissue from wild type zebrafish and shows the progressive development of an initially debris-coated culture to a complex neuronal-like network. Thanks to the availability of many zebrafish models of human diseases and tissue-specific reporter lines our method can be used to describe the intracellular mechanisms that underline biogenesis with focus at specific cell types and developmental stages.

culture-and-transfection-of-zebrafish-primary-cells

Research

JoVE Journal

Developmental Biology

Isolation and Culture of Adult Zebrafish Brain-derived Neurospheres

The zebrafish is a highly relevant model organism for understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in neurogenesis and brain regeneration in vertebrates. However, an in-depth analysis of the molecular mechanisms underlying zebrafish adult neurogenesis has been limited due to the lack of a reliable protocol for isolating and culturing neural adult stem/progenitor cells. Here we provide a reproducible method to examine adult neurogenesis using a neurosphere assay derived from zebrafish whole brain or from the telencephalon, tectum and cerebellum regions of the adult zebrafish brain. The protocol involves, first the microdissection of zebrafish adult brain, then single cell dissociation and isolation of self-renewing multipotent neural stem/progenitor cells. The entire procedure takes eight days. Additionally, we describe how to manipulate gene expression in zebrafish neurospheres, which will be particularly useful to test the role of specific signaling pathways during adult neural stem/progenitor cell proliferation and differentiation in zebrafish.

Here we provide a reproducible method to examine adult neurogenesis using a neurosphere assay derived from the whole brain or from either the telencephalic, tectal or cerebellar regions of the adult zebrafish brain. Additionally, we describe the procedure to manipulate gene expression in zebrafish neurospheres.

The zebrafish is a highly relevant model organism for understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in neurogenesis and brain regeneration ...

Isolation and Characterization of Single Cells from Zebrafish Embryos

The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a powerful model organism to study vertebrate development. Though many aspects of zebrafish embryonic development have been described at the morphological level, little is known about the molecular basis of cellular changes that occur as the organism develops. With recent advancements in microfluidics and multiplexing technologies, it is now possible to characterize gene expression in single cells. This allows for investigation of heterogeneity between individual cells of specific cell populations to identify and classify cell subtypes, characterize intermediate states that occur during cell differentiation, and explore differential cellular responses to stimuli. This study describes a protocol to isolate viable, single cells from zebrafish embryos for high throughput multiplexing assays. This method may be rapidly applied to any zebrafish embryonic cell type with fluorescent markers. An extension of this method may also be used in combination with high throughput sequencing technologies to fully characterize the transcriptome of single cells. As proof of principle, the relative abundance of cardiac differentiation markers was assessed in isolated, single cells derived from nkx2.5 positive cardiac progenitors. By evaluation of gene expression at the single cell level and at a single time point, the data support a model in which cardiac progenitors coexist with differentiating progeny. The method and work flow described here is broadly applicable to the zebrafish research community, requiring only a labeled transgenic fish line and access to microfluidics technologies.

This protocol describes a method for isolating single cells from zebrafish embryos, enriching for cells of interest, capturing zebrafish cells in microfluidic based single cell multiplex systems, and assessing gene expression from single cells.

The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a powerful model organism to study vertebrate development. Though many aspects of zebrafish embryonic development have been ...

Large-Scale Production of Cardiomyocytes from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells Using a Highly Reproducible Small Molecule-Based Differentiation Protocol

Maximizing the benefit of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) for research, disease modeling, pharmaceutical and clinical applications requires robust methods for the large-scale production of functional cell types, including cardiomyocytes. Here we demonstrate that the temporal manipulation of WNT, TGF-&#946;, and SHH signaling pathways leads to highly efficient cardiomyocyte differentiation of single-cell passaged hPSC lines in both static suspension and stirred suspension bioreactor systems. Employing this strategy resulted in ~ 100% beating spheroids, consistently containing &#62; 80% cardiac troponin T-positive cells after 15 days of culture, validated in multiple hPSC lines. We also report on a variation of this protocol for use with cell lines not currently adapted to single-cell passaging, the success of which has been verified in 42 hPSC lines. Cardiomyocytes generated using these protocols express lineage-specific markers and show expected electrophysiological functionalities. Our protocol presents a simple, efficient and robust platform for the large-scale production of human cardiomyocytes.

Here, we present a robust, fast and scalable cardiomyocyte differentiation protocol for human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs). Cardiomyocytes derived using this large-scale method can provide sufficient cell numbers for their effective use in human cardiovascular disease modeling, high-throughput drug screening, and potentially clinical applications.

Maximizing the benefit of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) for research, disease modeling, pharmaceutical and clinical applications requires robust ...

Preparation and Culture of Myogenic Precursor Cells/Primary Myoblasts from Skeletal Muscle of Adult and Aged Humans

Skeletal muscle homeostasis depends on muscle growth (hypertrophy), atrophy and regeneration. During ageing and in several diseases, muscle wasting occurs. Loss of muscle mass and function is associated with muscle fiber type atrophy, fiber type switching, defective muscle regeneration associated with dysfunction of satellite cells, muscle stem cells, and other pathophysiological processes. These changes are associated with changes in intracellular as well as local and systemic niches. In addition to most commonly used rodent models of muscle ageing, there is a need to study muscle homeostasis and wasting using human models, which due to ethical implications, consist predominantly of in vitro cultures. Despite the wide use of human Myogenic Progenitor Cells (MPCs) and primary myoblasts in myogenesis, there is limited data on using human primary myoblast and myotube cultures to study molecular mechanisms regulating different aspects of age-associated muscle wasting, aiding in the validation of mechanisms of ageing proposed in rodent muscle. The use of human MPCs, primary myoblasts and myotubes isolated from adult and aged people, provides a physiologically relevant model of molecular mechanisms of processes associated with muscle growth, atrophy and regeneration. Here we describe in detail a robust, inexpensive, reproducible and efficient protocol for the isolation and maintenance of human MPCs&#160;and their progeny&#160;&#8212; myoblasts and myotubes from human muscle samples using enzymatic digestion. Furthermore, we have determined the passage number at which primary myoblasts from adult and aged people undergo senescence in an in vitro culture. Finally, we show the ability to transfect these myoblasts and the ability to characterize their proliferative and differentiation capacity and propose their suitability for performing functional studies of molecular mechanisms of myogenesis and muscle wasting in vitro.

This protocol describes a robust, reproducible and simple method of isolation and culture of myoblast progenitor cells from the skeletal muscle of adult and aged people. The muscles used here include foot and leg muscles. This approach enables the isolation of an enriched population of primary myoblasts for functional studies.

Skeletal muscle homeostasis depends on muscle growth (hypertrophy), atrophy and regeneration. During ageing and in several diseases, muscle wasting ...

Single-cell Photoconversion in Living Intact Zebrafish

Animal and plant tissue is composed of distinct populations of cells. These cells interact over time to build and maintain the tissue and can cause disease when disrupted. Scientists have developed clever techniques to investigate characteristics and natural dynamics of these cells within intact tissue by expressing fluorescent proteins in subsets of cells. However, at times, experiments require more selected visualization of cells within the tissue, sometimes at the single-cell or population-of-cells manner. To achieve this and visualize single cells within a population of cells, scientists have utilized single-cell photoconversion of fluorescent proteins. To demonstrate this technique, we show here how to direct UV light to an Eos-expressing cell of interest in an intact, living zebrafish. We then image those photoconverted Eos+ cells 24 h later to determine how they changed in the tissue. We describe two techniques: single cell photoconversion and photoconversions of populations of cell. These techniques can be used to visualize cell-cell interactions, cell-fate and differentiation, and cell migrations, making it a technique that is applicable in numerous biological questions.

Here, we present a protocol to show how cell photoconversion is achieved through UV exposure to specific areas expressing the fluorescent protein, Eos, in living animals.

Animal and plant tissue is composed of distinct populations of cells. These cells interact over time to build and maintain the tissue and can cause ...

The Isolation and Culture of Primary Epicardial Cells Derived from Human Adult and Fetal Heart Specimens

The epicardium, an epithelial cell layer covering the myocardium, has an essential role during cardiac development, as well as in the repair response of the heart after ischemic injury. When activated, epicardial cells undergo a process known as epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) to provide cells to the regenerating myocardium. Furthermore, the epicardium contributes via secretion of essential paracrine factors. To fully appreciate the regenerative potential of the epicardium, a human cell model is required. Here we outline a novel cell culture model to derive primary epicardial derived cells (EPDCs) from human adult and fetal cardiac tissue. To isolate EPDCs, the epicardium is dissected from the outside of the heart specimen and processed into a single cell suspension. Next, EPDCs are plated and cultured in EPDC medium containing the ALK 5-kinase inhibitor SB431542 to maintain their epithelial phenotype. EMT is induced by stimulation with TGF&#946;. This method enables, for the first time, the study of the process of human epicardial EMT in a controlled setting, and facilitates gaining more insight in the secretome of EPDCs that may aid heart regeneration. Furthermore, this uniform approach allows for direct comparison of human adult and fetal epicardial behavior.

The epicardium plays a crucial role in the development and repair of the heart by providing cells and growth factors to the myocardial wall. Here, we describe a method to culture human primary epicardial cells that enables the study and comparison of their developmental and adult characteristics.

The epicardium, an epithelial cell layer covering the myocardium, has an essential role during cardiac development, as well as in the repair response of ...

Computational Analysis of the Caenorhabditis elegans Germline to Study the Distribution of Nuclei, Proteins, and the Cytoskeleton

The Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) germline is used to study several biologically important processes including stem cell development, apoptosis, and chromosome dynamics. While the germline is an excellent model, the analysis is often two dimensional due to the time and labor required for three-dimensional analysis. Major readouts in such studies are the number/position of nuclei and protein distribution within the germline. Here, we present a method to perform automated analysis of the germline using confocal microscopy and computational approaches to determine the number and position of nuclei in each region of the germline. Our method also analyzes germline protein distribution that enables the three-dimensional examination of protein expression in different genetic backgrounds. Further, our study shows variations in cytoskeletal architecture in distinct regions of the germline that may accommodate specific spatial developmental requirements. Finally, our method enables automated counting of the sperm in the spermatheca of each germline. Taken together, our method enables rapid and reproducible phenotypic analysis of the C. elegans germline.

Computational Analysis of the Caenorhabditis elegans Germline to Study the Distribution of Nuclei, Proteins, and the Cytoskeleton

We present an automated method for three-dimensional reconstruction of the Caenorhabditis elegans germline. Our method determines the number and position of each nucleus within the germline and analyses germline protein distribution and cytoskeletal structure.

The Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) germline is used to study several biologically important processes including stem cell development, apoptosis, and ...

Induction and Validation of Cellular Senescence in Primary Human Cells

Cellular senescence is a state of permanent cell cycle arrest activated in response to different damaging stimuli. Activation of cellular senescence is a hallmark of various pathophysiological conditions including tumor suppression, tissue remodeling and aging. The inducers of cellular senescence in vivo are still poorly characterized. However, a number of stimuli can be used to promote cellular senescence ex vivo. Among them, most common senescence-inducers are replicative exhaustion, ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, genotoxic drugs, oxidative stress, and demethylating and acetylating agents. Here, we will provide detailed instructions on how to use these stimuli to induce fibroblasts into senescence. This protocol can easily be adapted for different types of primary cells and cell lines, including cancer cells. We also describe different methods for the validation of senescence induction. In particular, we focus on measuring the activity of the lysosomal enzyme Senescence-Associated &#946;-galactosidase (SA-&#946;-gal), the rate of DNA synthesis using 5-ethynyl-2&#39;-deoxyuridine (EdU) incorporation assay, the levels of expression of the cell cycle inhibitors p16 and p21, and the expression and secretion of members of the Senescence-Associated Secretory Phenotype (SASP). Finally, we provide example results and discuss further applications of these protocols.

Here, we discuss a series of protocols for induction and validation of cellular senescence in cultured cells. We focus on different senescence-inducing stimuli and describe the quantification of common senescence-associated markers. We provide technical details using fibroblasts as a model, but the protocols can be adapted to various cellular models.

Cellular senescence is a state of permanent cell cycle arrest activated in response to different damaging stimuli. Activation of cellular senescence is a ...

In Vitro Generation of Somite Derivatives from Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

In response to signals such as WNTs, bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), and sonic hedgehog (SHH) secreted from surrounding tissues, somites (SMs) give rise to multiple cell types, including the myotome (MYO), sclerotome (SCL), dermatome (D), and syndetome (SYN), which in turn develop into skeletal muscle, axial skeleton, dorsal dermis, and axial tendon/ligament, respectively. Therefore, the generation of SMs and their derivatives from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) is critical to obtain pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) for application in regenerative medicine and for disease research in the field of orthopedic surgery. Although the induction protocols for MYO and SCL from PSCs have been previously reported by several researchers, no study has yet demonstrated the induction of SYN and D from iPSCs. Therefore, efficient induction of fully competent SMs remains a major challenge. Here, we recapitulate human SM patterning with human iPSCs in vitro by mimicking the signaling environment during chick/mouse SM development, and report on methods of systematic induction of SM derivatives (MYO, SCL, D, and SYN) from human iPSCs under chemically defined conditions through the presomitic mesoderm (PSM) and SM states. Knowledge regarding chick/mouse&#160;SM development was successfully applied to the induction of SMs with human iPSCs. This method could be a novel tool for studying human somitogenesis and patterning without the use of embryos and for cell-based therapy and disease modeling.

We present here a protocol for the differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells into each somite derivative (myotome, sclerotome, dermatome, and syndetome) in chemically defined conditions, which has applications in future disease modeling and cell-based therapies in orthopedic surgery.

In response to signals such as WNTs, bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), and sonic hedgehog (SHH) secreted from surrounding tissues, somites (SMs) give ...

Assessment of Oxidative Damage in the Primary Mouse Ocular Surface Cells/Stem Cells in Response to Ultraviolet-C (UV-C) Damage

The ocular surface is subjected to regular wear and tear due to various environmental factors. Exposure to UV-C radiation constitutes an occupational health hazard. Here, we demonstrate the exposure of primary stem cells from the mouse ocular surface to UV-C radiation. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation is the readout of the extent of oxidative stress/damage. In an experimental in vitro setting, it is also essential to assess the percentage of dead cells generated due to oxidative stress. In this article, we will demonstrate the 2&#39;,7&#39;-Dichlorofluoresceindiacetate (DCFDA) staining of UV-C exposed mouse primary ocular surface stem cells and their quantification based on the fluorescent images of DCFDA staining. DCFDA staining directly corresponds to ROS generation. We also demonstrate the quantification of dead and live cells by simultaneous staining with propidium iodide (PI) and Hoechst 3332 respectively and the percentage of DCFDA (ROS positive) and PI positive cells.

Assessment of Oxidative Damage in the Primary Mouse Ocular Surface Cells/Stem Cells in Response to Ultraviolet-C UV-C Damage

This protocol demonstrates the simultaneous detection of reactive oxygen species (ROS), live cells, and dead cells in live primary cultures from mouse ocular surface cells. 2&#39;,7&#39;-Dichlorofluoresceindiacetate, propidium iodide, and Hoechst staining are used to assess the ROS, dead cells, and live cells, respectively, followed by imaging and analysis.

The ocular surface is subjected to regular wear and tear due to various environmental factors. Exposure to UV-C radiation constitutes an occupational ...