This work was funded by grants from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (RG4179 to A.N.), the National Institutes of Health (NIH R01NS073425 and R01NS074870 to A.N.) and the National Science Foundation (A.N.). We thank Dr. Frank Kirchhoff (University of Saarland, Homburg Germany) for providing PLPDsRed transgenic mice. We thank Youfen Sun for her assistance in maintaining the transgenic mouse colony.

NOTE: All animal procedures are following the guidelines and have been approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) at the University of Connecticut.
NOTE: For these experiments constitutive NG2cre18 (JAX#008533) and inducible NG2creER16 (JAX#008538) transgenic mice crossed to Z/EG19 (JAX#003920) or gtRosa26:YFP reporter20 (JAX#006148) lines respectively were used to image NG2 cells and their progeny. To image mature oligodendrocytes, PLPDsRed transgenic mice21</s...

<ol>
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Myelination in the central nervous system is essential for efficient neuronal communication and axonal survival22. NG2 cells continuously generate myelinating oligodendrocytes into adulthood while maintaining a resident population in most brain regions16,23&#8211;25. Some genetic and molecular mechanisms regulating the differentiation of these cells have been described but much remains to be discovered. Organotypic slice cultures are a convenient tool to investigate these mecha...

Organoytpic slice cultures of the central nervous system have proven to be extremely useful for studying neuron and glial cell biology in a semiintact system1&#8211;4. These cultures are relatively simple to adopt and retain many benefits of primary dissociated cell cultures such as manipulation of the extracellular environment and easy access for repeated long-term live cell imaging and electrophysiological recordings5&#8211;9. In addition, slice cultures maintain 3-dimensional tissue cytoarchitecture, regional neural connectivity, and most major cell types are present in the system. These properties make these cultures a unique and convenient system to investigate single cell behavior and physiology with cellular and environmental interactions.
NG2 cells are a population of glial cells in the mammalian central nervous system that continue to proliferate and generate myelinating oligodendrocytes during embryonic and postnatal development10. They have been extensively studied in dissociated primary cell cultures, and recent development of transgenic mouse lines with NG2 cell-specific expression of fluorescent proteins has facilitated in vivo fate mapping and electrophysiological recordings in acute slice preparations. Even with these studies, little is known about the temporal dynamics of NG2 cell proliferation and oligodendrocyte differentiation. Although dissociated cell culture is widely used for the relative facility in pharmacological and genetic manipulations, it is not suitable for interrogating functional differences of these cells in different brain regions particularly when it is desirable to maintain the context of the cellular microenvironment. Slice cultures provide a simple alternative that is amenable to pharmacological manipulations and have been used to investigate oligodendrocyte myelination11,12, cellular response after lysolecithin (LPC) or antibody induced demyelination13,14, and induction of remyelination via pharmacological treatment15.
A method to investigate and perform live imaging and fixed tissue (or postfixation) analysis of NG2 cell proliferation and oligodendrocyte differentiation in organotypic slice cultures taken from both the forebrain and cerebellum is described. This is a powerful method that can be used to study the cell fate of single NG2 cells after division16 and to discover region- and age-dependent differences in growth factor induced NG2 cell proliferation17. This relatively simple technique is widely accessible to further investigate cell intrinsic and/or environmental mechanisms regulating the physiology of these glial cells and their response to neuronal activity or myelin damage.

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Slice Culture Medium</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Minimum Essential Medium</td>
			<td>Invitrogen</td>
			<td>11090</td>
			<td>50%</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Hank&#8217;s Balanced Salt Solution</td>
			<td>Invitrogen</td>
			<td>14175</td>
			<td>25%</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>HEPES</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>H-4034</td>
			<td>25mM</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>L-Glutamine</td>
			<td>Invitrogen</td>
			<td>25030</td>
			<td>1mM</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Insulin</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>I6634</td>
			<td>1mg/L</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ascorbic Acid</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>A-0278</td>
			<td>0.4mM</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Horse Serum</td>
			<td>Hyclone</td>
			<td>SH30074.03</td>
			<td>25%</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Titrate to pH 7.22 with NaOH, filter with bottle top filter, and store at 4 degrees Celsius</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Dissection Buffer</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>NaCl</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>S3014</td>
			<td>124mM</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>KCl</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>P5405</td>
			<td>3.004mM</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>KH2PO4</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>P5655</td>
			<td>1.25mM</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>MgSO4 (anhydrous)</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>M7506</td>
			<td>4.004mM</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>CaCl2 2H2O</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>C7902</td>
			<td>2mM</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>NaHCO3</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>S5761</td>
			<td>26mM</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>D-(+)-Glucose</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>G7021</td>
			<td>10mM</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ascorbic Acid</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>A-0278</td>
			<td>2.0mM</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Adenosine</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>A4036</td>
			<td>0.075mM</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Filter with bottle top filter and store at 4 degrees Celsius, oxygenate with 95%O2 5%CO2 before use</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Other Reagents and Supplies</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>4-hydroxy tamoxifen (4OHT)</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>H7904</td>
			<td>100nM</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Paraformaldehyde (PFA)</td>
			<td>EM Sciences</td>
			<td>19200</td>
			<td>4%</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>L-Lysine</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>L-6027</td>
			<td>0.1M</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sodium Metaperiodate</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>S-1878</td>
			<td>0.01M</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Rabbit anti NG2 antibody</td>
			<td>Chemicon (Millipore)</td>
			<td>AB5320</td>
			<td>1:500</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Mouse anti CC1 antibody</td>
			<td>Calbiochem (Millipore)</td>
			<td>OP80</td>
			<td>1:200</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Mouse anti Ki67 antibody</td>
			<td>Vision Biosystems</td>
			<td>NCL-Ki67-MM1</td>
			<td>1:300</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Mouse anti NeuN antibody</td>
			<td>Chemicon (Millipore)</td>
			<td>MAB377</td>
			<td>1:500</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Species specific secondary antibodies</td>
			<td>Jackson Immunoresearch</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Normal Goat Serum (NGS)</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td>5%</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Triton X-100</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td>0.10%</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Mounting medium with DAPI</td>
			<td>Vector Labs</td>
			<td>H-1200</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Millicell culture membrane inserts 0.45&#956;m pore size</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>PICM03050</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Bottle top filters</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>09-740-25E</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ethanol</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>95% O2 5% CO2 gas mix</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Phosphate Buffered Saline (PBS)</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sterile six well plates</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Dissecting (hippocampal) or weighing spatulas</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Manual or automatic tissue chopper</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Razor blades</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Disposable transfer pipettes</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>35mm and 60mm sterile Petri dishes</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Stereomicroscope</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Inverted Phase Microscope</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Laminar Flow Hood</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Tissue Culture Incubator</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Inverted Fluorescence Microcope</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

organotypic slice cultures to study oligodendrocyte dynamics and myelination

NG2 expressing cells (polydendrocytes, oligodendrocyte precursor cells) are the fourth major glial cell population in the central nervous system. During embryonic and postnatal development they actively proliferate and generate myelinating oligodendrocytes. These cells have commonly been studied in primary dissociated cultures, neuron cocultures, and in fixed tissue. Using newly available transgenic mouse lines slice culture systems can be used to investigate proliferation and differentiation of oligodendrocyte lineage cells in both gray and white matter regions of the forebrain and cerebellum. Slice cultures are prepared from early postnatal mice and are kept in culture for up to 1 month. These slices can be imaged multiple times over the culture period to investigate cellular behavior and interactions. This method allows visualization of NG2 cell division and the steps leading to oligodendrocyte differentiation while enabling detailed analysis of region-dependent NG2 cell and oligodendrocyte functional heterogeneity. This is a powerful technique that can be used to investigate the intrinsic and extrinsic signals influencing these cells over time in a cellular environment that closely resembles that found in vivo.

Examples of representative data are given below that have been obtained using slice cultures from both the forebrain and cerebellum of P8 NG2cre:ZEG, NG2creER:YFP and PLPDsRed transgenic mouse lines. NG2 cells can be imaged over days in forebrain and cerebellum slices (Figure 1B-D, Video 1) and the phenotype of these cells can be determined after fixation and immunostaining with NG2 and CC1 antibodies (Figure 1E). In addition to live imaging, cell proliferation can also be assessed using...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Organotypic Slice Cultures to Study Oligodendrocyte Dynamics and Myelination at JoVE.com

Organotypic Slice Cultures to Study Oligodendrocyte Dynamics and Myelination

A technique to study NG2 cells and oligodendrocytes using a slice culture system of the forebrain and cerebellum is described. This method allows examination of the dynamics of proliferation and differentiation of cells within the oligodendrocyte lineage where the extracellular environment can be easily manipulated while maintaining tissue cytoarchitecture.

NG2 expressing cells (polydendrocytes, oligodendrocyte precursor cells) are the fourth major glial cell population in the central nervous system. During ...

organotypic-slice-cultures-to-study-oligodendrocyte-dynamics

Research

JoVE Journal

Neuroscience

18.1K Views.  University of Connecticut. A technique to study NG2 cells and oligodendrocytes using a slice culture system of the forebrain and cerebellum is described. This method allows examination of the dynamics of proliferation and differentiation of cells within the oligodendrocyte lineage where the extracellular environment can be easily manipulated while maintaining tissue cytoarchitecture.