Extracting Prostate from Mouse Urogenital System: A Technique to Separate Prostate Gland from Other Urinary and Genital System Organs in Male Mouse

After exposing the urogenital system, or UGS, firmly grasp the urinary bladder with medium blunt forceps and lift the entire system up from the mouse abdomen. Slide a pair of scissors under the bladder and prostate, all the way to the spine, to make an incision through the spinal cord, and cut through any remaining connections to the abdominal cavity to allow removal of the entire UGS.

Transfer the UGS to a 6-centimeter Petri dish containing 2 to 6 milliliters of PBS under a dissecting microscope, and use a pair of fine forceps and microdissection scissors to carefully clear all of the fat from both the dorsal and ventral sides of the tissue system without snipping any prostate tissue.

When all of the fat has been removed, pull the bladder with the forceps and excise the bladder at its base. Place the remaining tissue ventral side up, and holding one ductus deferens with the forceps, follow the vessel to its base with scissors and excise the vessel at its base.

Remove the same vessel on the other side, and insert the forceps between the seminal vesicles and prostate to allow snipping of any adjoining connective tissue as necessary. Then, trace the seminal vesicles to their base at the urethra and remove the vessels without puncturing them.