Three-Dimensional Adipocyte Culture as a Model to Study Cachexia-Induced White Adipose Tissue Remodeling

Summary

This protocol describes a three-dimensional (3D) magnetic printing culture system that permits dissection of white adipose tissue (WAT) remodeling induced by a conditioned medium from cancer cells. Using a 3D culture system of UCP1+ adipocytes that express a green fluorescent protein (GFP) allows the study of beige adipocytes contributing to adipose tissue remodeling.

Abstract

Cancer cachexia (CC) presents itself as a syndrome with multiple manifestations, causing a marked multi-organ metabolic imbalance. Recently, cachectic wasting has been proposed to be stimulated by several inflammatory mediators, which may disrupt the integrative physiology of adipose tissues and other tissues such as the brain and muscle. In this scenario, the tumor can survive at the host's expense. In recent clinical research, the intensity of depletion of the different fat deposits has been negatively correlated with the patient's survival outcome. Studies have also shown that various metabolic disorders can alter white adipose tissue (WAT) remodeling, especially in the early stages of cachexia development. WAT dysfunction resulting from tissue remodeling is a contributor to overall cachexia, with the main modifications in WAT consisting of morpho-functional changes, increased adipocyte lipolysis, accumulation of immune cells, reduction of adipogenesis, changes in progenitor cell population, and the increase of "niches" containing beige/brite cells.

To study the various facets of cachexia-induced WAT remodeling, particularly the changes progenitor cells and beige remodeling, two-dimensional (2D) culture has been the first option for in vitro studies. However, this approach does not adequately summarize WAT complexity. Improved assays for the reconstruction of functional AT ex vivo help the comprehension of physiological interactions between the distinct cell populations. This protocol describes an efficient three-dimensional (3D) printing tissue culture system based on magnetic nanoparticles. The protocol is optimized for investigating WAT remodeling induced by cachexia induced factors (CIFs). The results show that a 3D culture is an appropriate tool for studying WAT modeling ex vivo and may be useful for functional screens to identify bioactive molecules for individual adipose cell populations applications and aid the discovery of WAT-based cell anticachectic therapy.

Introduction

Living organisms are composed of cells in 3D microenvironments with cell-cell and cell-matrix interplay and elaborate transport dynamics for nutrients and cells^1,2. However, most of the fundamental knowledge gained in cell biology has been generated using monolayer cell culture (2D). Although 2D culture can answer some of the mechanistic questions, this approach inadequately recapitulates the natural environment within which cells reside and may be incompatible with predicting a complex drug response¹. Moreover, cells sense their physical surroundings through mechanotransduction. Indeed....

Protocol

1. Incubation of 2D cells with magnetic nanoparticles

1. Grow adherent 2D cultures to ~ 70% confluence using standard cell culture procedures.
2. Prepare the magnetic nanoparticle assembly. Take it out of the refrigerator and let it warm to room temperature (20-25 °C) for about 15 min¹.
3. Mixed medium: Add the magnetic nanoparticles directly to 12 mL of medium in 100 mm cell culture plates. Suspend and resuspend the medium a few times to obtain a homogeneous distributi.......

Discussion

This protocol sets up a 3D cell culture system to study adipocyte differentiation in adipospheroids derived from primary SVF cells from WAT. Compared to conventional 2D adherent culture, this 3D system facilitates AT remodeling, which closely resembles in vivo conditions. In the last few years, studies have shown that culturing cells in 3D yields distinct cellular morphology and signaling compared to a 2D culture system³. Fibroblast morphology in 3D is different from that found in 2D

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
3-Isobutyl-1-methylxanthine	Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, USA)	I-5879	Cell culture
96-Well Bioprinting Kit, black	Greiner (Monroe, NC, USA)	655841	Cell culture
Alexa Fluor 647 AffiniPure F(ab')2 Fragment Donkey Anti-Rabbit IgG (H+L)	Jackson ImmunoResearch	711-606-152	Immunofluorescence staining, secondary, 1:400 in TBS with 0.1% Tween-20
CELL CULTURE MICROPLATE, 96 WELL, PS, F-BOTTOM, µCLEAR, BLACK, CELLSTAR, CELL-REPELLENT SURFACE, LID, STERILE, 8 PCS./BAG	Greiner (Monroe, NC, USA)	655976	Cell culture
Dexamethasone	Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, USA)	D-1756	Cell culture
DMEM	Corning (Manassas, VA, USA)	10-017-CV	Cell culture
Fetal Bovine Serum (Tova)	Gemini Bio (West Sacramento, CA)	100-500	Cell culture
Indomethacin	Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, USA)	I-7378	Cell culture
Insulin	Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, USA)	I0516	Cell culture
LL/2 (LLC1) (ATCC CRL-1642)	American Type Culture Collection (Manassas, VA, USA)	CRL-1642	Lewis Lung Carcinoma cell line
NanoShuttle-PL	Greiner (Monroe, NC, USA)	657843	Cell culture
NucBlue Fixed Cell ReadyProbes Reagent (DAPI)	ThermoFisher (Waltham, MA, USA)	R37606	Immunofluorescence staining, following the manufacturer's instructions
Pen strep	Corning (Manassas, VA, USA)	30-002-CI	Cell culture
Perilipin-1 (D1D8) XP Rabbit mAb	Cell Signaling Technology (Danvers, MA, USA)	9349	Immunofluorescence staining, primary, 1:1000 in TBS with 0.1% Tween-20
Rosiglitazone	Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, USA)	R-2408	Cell culture
Trypsin-EDTA, 0.05%	Corning (Manassas, VA, USA)	25-052-CI	Cell culture
Reverse-transcription PCR primers
Primer	Forward	Reverse
Adipoq	GTTCCCAATGTACCCATTCGC	TGTTGCAGTAGAACTTGCCAG
Col4a1	TCCAAGGGCGAAGTGGGTTT	ACCCTTGCTCGCCTTTGACT
Cyclophilin a	ATGGCACTGGCGGCAGGTCC	TTGCCATTCCTGGACCCAAA
Fabp4	TGGTGACAAGCTGGTGGTGGAATG	TCCAGGCCTCTTCCTTTGGCTCA
Fn1	GCTTCCCCAACTGGTTACCCT	GGGTTGGTGATGAAGGGGGT
Pgc1a	GAAAACAGGAACAGCAGCAGAG	GGGGTCAGAGGAAGAGATAAAG
Ucp1	TCCTAGGGACCATCACCACCC	AGCCGGCTGAGATCTTGTTTCC
Mouse genotyping
Primer name	Description	Sequence
Cre F	Generic Cre forward	GCG GTC TGG CAG TAA AAA CTA TC
Cre R	Generic Cre reverse	GTG AAA CAG CAT TGC TGT CAC TT
oIMR7318	mT/mG forward	CTC TGC TGC CTC CTG GCT TCT
oIMR7319	mT/mG wild type reverse	CGA GGC GGA TCA CAA GCA ATA
oIMR7320	mT/mG mutant reverse	TCA ATG GGC GGG GGT CGT T
WH336	UCP1 mutant forward	CAA TCT GGG CTT AAC GGG TCC TC
WH337	UCP1 mutant reverse	GTT GCA TCG ACC GGT TAA TGC AG
WH338	UCP1 wild type forward	GGT CAG CCT AAT TAG CTC TGT
WH339	UCP1 wild type reverse	GAT CTC CAG CTC CTC CTC TGT C