Name: analyses of proteinuria, renal infiltration of leukocytes, and renal deposition of proteins in lupus-prone mrl/lpr mice
Uploaded: 2022-06-08T13:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Analyses of Proteinuria, Renal Infiltration of Leukocytes, and Renal Deposition of Proteins in Lupus-prone MRL/lpr Mice at JoVE.com

We thank the Flow Cytometry Core Facility, the Histopathology Laboratory, the Fralin Imaging Center at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and State University for technical support. This work is supported by various NIH and internal grants.

The present protocol is approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) at Virginia Tech. Since lupus disease has a higher incidence in females, only female MRL/lpr mice were used. The sample collection was started at 4 weeks of age and finished at 15 weeks. The mice were obtained from commercial sources (see Table of Materials) and were bred and maintained in a specific pathogen-free environment following the institutional guidelines.
1. Proteinuria ...

<ol>
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LN is a leading cause of mortality in SLE patients, and factors aggravating the disease remain unclear. The application of this protocol is to characterize renal function using multiple methods, including measurement of proteinuria, FACS analysis of isolated kidney leukocytes, and immunofluorescence staining of frozen kidney sections.
One important point to consider while collecting urine is that one has to be consistent with the time of the day and the location of urine collection. Mice are n...

The kidney&#39;s primary function is the elimination of toxic substances through urine while maintaining the homeostasis of water and salts1. This function is threatened in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), leading to so-called lupus nephritis (LN). LN is a consequence of the immune system attacking the kidney, leading to persistent kidney inflammation, therefore losing its ability to clean waste from the blood and regulate salt and fluid concentrations. This will eventually lead to renal failure, which can be fatal. During the nephritic process, circulating B cells, T cells, and monocytes are recruited to the kidney, secreting chemokines, cytokines, and immune complex-forming autoantibodies. This ultimately results in endothelial cell damage, membranous injuries, renal tubular atrophy, and fibrosis2.
MRL/Mp-Faslpr (MRL/lpr) lupus-prone mice is a classical mouse model exhibiting lupus-like clinical signs that resemble human SLE3. This model has been instrumental in understanding one of the leading causes of mortality in SLE patients, lupus nephritis (LN)4. In both human and mouse SLE, LN is characterized by gradual inflammation triggered by renal deposition of immune complexes, followed by complement activation, recruitment of inflammatory cells, and loss of renal function5. The immune complex deposition is the first step to induce chemokine and cytokine production by intrinsic renal cells, which expands the inflammatory response by recruiting immune cells6. The current protocol presents several techniques to follow renal disease progression that analyze cell infiltration and immune complex deposition.
Urine collected every week allows for detection and visualization of the time course of proteinuria before, during, and after lupus onset. Proteinuria as a biomarker can determine the biological progression of LN. Other advantages of this technique are that it is non-invasive, cost-efficient, and easy to implement7. When the kidney is working perfectly, the proteinuria level is consistently low; however, in MRL/lpr mice, after 8-9 weeks of age, a gradual increase of the proteinuria level, that is eventually high enough to cause renal failure8, is observed. Multiple reagent strips and colorimetric reagents are commercially available to monitor the issue. However, the Bradford assay is cheap and very accurate in determining the onset of proteinuria and the course of lupus nephritis. This assay is quick, and the reagent is not affected by the presence of solvents, buffers, reducing agents, and metal-chelating agents that may be in your sample9,10,11.
One important aspect to consider is cell infiltration in the kidney. These infiltrates promote pathogenesis by triggering the secretion of soluble factors such as cytokines to worsen inflammation12. To better understand what cell populations are present in the infiltrates, a useful method is to isolate leukocytes13. Here, the detection of renal infiltration of B cells is used as an example. The procedure begins with a digestion process with deoxyribonuclease (DNase) and collagenase, followed by density gradient separation that removes debris, red blood cells, and dense granulocytes. The reason for isolating B cells (CD19+) and plasma cells (CD138+) is that lupus kidneys can concentrate these cells14. It is suggested that the presence of B cells in small aggregates in the kidney can indicate clonal expansion and, consequently, immunoglobulin (Ig) production. Plasma cells are well-known to be present in these aggregates as well15. Once leukocytes have been isolated, fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) can be used to analyze the cells of interest upon staining with different fluorescence-conjugated antibodies.
Immunofluorescence is one of the immunohistochemistry (IHC) detection methods that allows for fluorescent visualization of proteins in 4 &#956;m thick kidney tissue samples. Other IHC detection methods depend on the nature of analytes, binding chemistry, and other factors16. Immunofluorescence is a rapid identification method that exposes the antigen to its counterpart antibody labeled with a specific fluorochrome (or a fluorescent dye). When excited, it produces light that a fluorescence microscope can detect. This technique can be used to observe the deposition of complement C3 and IgG2a17. Excessive complement cascade activation could be associated with an uncontrolled immune response and loss-of-function18. Immune deposition of anti-double-stranded DNA (anti-dsDNA) autoantibodies in the kidney is a major concern19, where those with IgG2a isotype have been associated with LN20. Specifically, anti-dsDNA antibodies exhibit more pathogenicity and affinity to nuclear materials, forming immune complexes21. When IgG2a is present, the complement cascade, including C3, is activated to clear the immune complexes22. The C3 and IgG2a markers can be quantified individually or overlaid to establish their correlation.
Notably, serum creatinine measurement is another reliable technique that can be used together with microscopic hematuria and kidney biopsies to diagnose LN23. However, the presence of proteinuria is a strong indicator of glomerular damage. In that sense, monitoring the proteinuria level during lupus can detect disease onset and complement other methods for diagnosing lupus. In addition, immune complexes deposited in glomeruli can induce an inflammatory response, activate the complement system, and recruit more inflammatory cells. Another noteworthy point of this protocol is B cell infiltration in the kidney. This, together with the infiltrated T cells, amplifies local immune responses that trigger organ damage. Importantly, the classification of LN is not only based on glomerular morphologic changes seen in microscopy but also immune deposits observed with immunofluorescence. Therefore, in this protocol, accurate and cost-effective methods for the analysis of renal function are offered in laboratory settings.

<table border="1" fo:keep-together.within-page="1" fo:keep-with-next.within-page="always">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>10x Tris-Buffered Saline (TBS)</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>J60764.K2</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>2-mercaptoethanol</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>21985-023</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Anti-Human/Mouse C3</td>
			<td>Cedarlane</td>
			<td>CL7632F</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Anti-Mouse CD138 BV711</td>
			<td>Biolegend</td>
			<td>142519</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Anti-Mouse CD45 AF700</td>
			<td>Biolegend</td>
			<td>103127</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Bovine Serum Albumin</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>A9418-100G</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Collagenase D</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>11088882001</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Confocal Microscope LSM 880</td>
			<td>Zeiss</td>
			<td>LSM 880</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Coplin jar</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>50-212-281</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Cryomold</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>NC9511236</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Density gradient medium</td>
			<td>GE Healthcare</td>
			<td>17-1440-02</td>
			<td>Percoll</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>DEPC-Treated water</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>AM9906</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>DNase I</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>D4527</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>dsDNA-EC</td>
			<td>InvivoGen</td>
			<td>tlrl-ecdna</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ethylenediaminetetraacetic Acid</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>S311-500</td>
			<td>EDTA</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>EVOS M5000 Microscope imaging system</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>AMF5000</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>FACS Fusion Cell sorter</td>
			<td>BD Biosciences</td>
			<td>FACS Fusion</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Fetal Bovine Serum - Premium, Heat Inactivated</td>
			<td>R&#38;D systems</td>
			<td>S11150H</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Fisherbrand 96-Well Polystyrene Plates</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>12-565-501</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Graphpad prism</td>
			<td>GraphPad</td>
			<td>N/A</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Hank&#8217;s Balanced Salt Solution</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>14175-079</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>HEPES</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>15630-080</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>ImageJ software</td>
			<td>National Institutes of Health</td>
			<td>N/A</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Lactobacillus reuteri Kandler et al.</td>
			<td>ATCC</td>
			<td>23272</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>MEM non-essential amino acids</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>11140-050</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>MRL/MpJ-Fas lpr /J Mice (MRL/lpr)</td>
			<td>Jackson Lab</td>
			<td>485</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Nail enamel</td>
			<td>N/A</td>
			<td>N/A</td>
			<td>Any conventional store</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>O.C.T compound</td>
			<td>Tisse-Tek</td>
			<td>4583</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>PAP pen</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>Z377821</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Peel-A-Way Disposable Embedding Molds</td>
			<td>Polysciences</td>
			<td>R-30</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Penicillin-Streptomycin</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>15140-122</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Phosphate-buffered saline (PBS)</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>70011069</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Pierce 20x TBS Buffer</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>28358</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Pierce Coomassie Plus (Bradford) Assay kit</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>23236</td>
			<td>Albumin standard included</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>ProLon Gold Antifade Mountant</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher</td>
			<td>P36934</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Purified Rat Anti-Mouse CD16/CD32</td>
			<td>BD Biosciences</td>
			<td>553141</td>
			<td>FcR block</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>RPMI 1640</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>11875-093</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sodium pyruvate</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>11360-070</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>SpectraMax M5</td>
			<td>Molecular Devices</td>
			<td>N/A</td>
			<td>SoftMax Pro 6.1 software</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sterile cell Strainers 100 &#181;M</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>22363549</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Tween 20</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>BP337-500</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Vancomycin Hydrochloride</td>
			<td>Goldbio</td>
			<td>V-200-1</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Zombie Aqua</td>
			<td>Biolegend</td>
			<td>423102</td>
			<td>fluorescent dye for flow cytometry analysis</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

analyses of proteinuria, renal infiltration of leukocytes, and renal deposition of proteins in lupus-prone mrl/lpr mice

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disorder with no known cure and is characterized by persistent inflammation in many organs, including the kidneys. Under such circumstances, the kidney loses its ability to clean waste from the blood and regulate salt and fluid concentrations, eventually leading to renal failure. Women, particularly those of childbearing age, are diagnosed nine times more often than men. Kidney disease is the leading cause of mortality in SLE patients. The present protocol describes a quick and simple method to measure excreted protein levels in collected urine, tracking lupus progression over time. In addition, an approach to isolate kidney mononuclear cells is provided based on size and density selection to investigate renal infiltration of leukocytes. Furthermore, an immunohistochemical method has been developed to characterize protein deposition in the glomeruli and leukocyte infiltration in the tubulointerstitial space. Together, these methods can help investigate the progression of chronic inflammation associated with the kidneys of lupus-prone MRL/lpr mice.

The protocol uses multiple methods to assess MRL/lpr mice for lupus nephritis. First, a procedure is described to study increased proteinuria levels due to kidney dysfunction over time. As shown in Figure 1, female mice were treated with oral gavage of 200 &#181;L of phosphate-buffered saline (1x PBS) as the control group and probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri as the treatment group, at a concentration of 109 cfu/mL, twice a week. Treatment started at 3 weeks old and finishe...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Analyses of Proteinuria, Renal Infiltration of Leukocytes, and Renal Deposition of Proteins in Lupus-prone MRL/lpr Mice at JoVE.com

Analyses of Proteinuria, Renal Infiltration of Leukocytes, and Renal Deposition of Proteins in Lupus-prone MRL/lpr Mice

The present protocol describes a method to track lupus progression in mice. Two additional procedures are presented to characterize lupus nephritis based on cell infiltration and protein deposition in the kidneys.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disorder with no known cure and is characterized by persistent inflammation in many organs, including ...

These methods can help investigate the progression of chronic inflammation associated with kidneys in lupus patients. We are offering a reliable and cost effective alternative that can be used to monitor the disease course in lupus. Begin sterilizing the hood by spraying 70%ethanol and place a sterile plastic sheet on the surface.Then prepare tips, 1.5 milliliter tubes and a pipette to collect about 20 microliters of the urine. Take the cage and spray 70%ethanol before placing it inside the hood. Afterward, hold the mouse with one hand and use the other hand to gently massage the ventral area from top to bottom.Using a 1.5 milliliter tube or pipette, collect the urine directly. Or if the sample drops collect it from the plastic sheet. Then put the mouse back in the cage.Cut the dissected kidneys into grain size and digest in five milliliters of digestion buffer containing Collagenase and DNase 1 in RPMI 1640 medium containing HEPES for one hour with continuous gentle shaking at 37 degrees Celsius. Add 10 milliliters of ice cold PBS containing 10 millimolar of EDTA and incubate for 10 minutes on ice. Then vortex the suspension twice.Later, filter the cell suspension through a 100 micrometer strainer and wash with 10 milliliters of HBSS full. Afterward, centrifuge at 350 times G for 10 minutes at room temperature. Prepare a 30, 37 and 70%stock isotonic Percoll solution and add a layer of 37%Percoll solution on top of the 70%solution.Re suspend the cells in five milliliters of 30%stock isotonic Percoll. Using a Pasteur pipette slowly load 37%of five milliliters top and 70%of five milliliters on the bottom, making stock isotonic Percoll gradient. Then, centrifuge with up number nine and down number zero at 1000 times G for 30 minutes at room temperature.Afterward, collect leukocytes from the 37 to 70%interface and re suspend them in five milliliters of C 10. Again, centrifuge at 350 times G for 10 minutes at four degrees Celsius. Subsequently re suspend the cell pellet in three milliliters of fax buffer and centrifuge at 350 times G for five minutes at four degrees Celsius.Then discard the supernatant leaving about 50 microliters of the total volume. Add 50 microliters of FC receptor block per tube. Following this mix and incubate on ice in the dark for 10 minutes.Later, add two milliliters of fax buffer for washing. Then, centrifuge at 350 times G for five minutes at four degrees Celsius and discard the supernatent leaving about 50 microliters of the total volume. Next, add 20 microliters of the appropriate fluorescent dye and let it stand for 15 to 30 minutes on ice.Add 50 microliters of antibody mix per tube containing CD 138 brilliant violet seven 11 and CD 45 Alexa Fluor 700 and incubate on ice in the dark for 15 to 30 minutes. Afterward, add three milliliters of fax buffer. Centrifuge at 350 times G for five minutes at four degrees Celsius.Remove the supernatant by vacuum leaving about 50 microliters of the total volume. Later, re suspend the cell pellet in 200 microliters of PBS. To collect the sample embed the half kidney in the small plastic cryomold with the optimal cutting temperature compound.Then add dry ice into a polystyrene foam box and carefully place the cryomold on top of the dry ice. Next, remove the cryomold, wrap it in aluminum foil and store it at minus 80 degrees Celsius until further use. Then fix the dry to four micrometer sections with cold acetone for 10 minutes.After fixing the slides, air dry for 0.5 to one hour and store them at minus 20 degrees Celsius for a short time or minus 80 degrees Celsius for a long time. To stain the samples, refix the slides in cold acetone for five to 10 minutes and allow the sections to warm up to room temperature. Afterward, using a pat pen, draw a hydrophobic circle around the section and allow it to dry.Then place slides in TBS in the Copeland jar for 20 minutes and shake gently by putting the jar on the shaker. Subsequently, pour off TBS and fill the jar with TBS 5%BSA and 0.1%TW 20. Later, incubate the jar for 20 minutes by shaking gently on the shaker.Then, take the slides out and wipe the bottom of the slides. Add 100 microliters of conjugated antibodies C3 fit C and IgG2 APE to the section and incubate room temperature in a humidified chamber for one hour. Wash the section thrice in PBS 5%BSA and 0.1%TW 20 for 10 minutes on the shaker and then shake dry the slides.Mount the section with an anti-fade reagent and then with a cover slip. Then store the slides at four degrees Celsius until viewing under the microscope. For image analysis using the image J software, outline the desired region.Afterward, set standard parameters by clicking on analyze then set measurements and measure area to get the results. Next, transfer the data obtained from the measure windows to a spreadsheet. Once done, click on analyze to measure the region and transfer the data again to the previous spreadsheet.The protein levels in the urine of MRL LPR mice were detected over time where they were treated with phosphate buffered saline as the control group and lactobacillus reuteri as the treatment group. The mice group treated with L.reuteri at a more aggressive proteinuria progression than the control group. The fax analysis was performed for the isolated kidney leukocytes to analyze the plasma cells.Further, the mice were treated with vancomycin or vancomycin along with Escherichia coli double stranded DNA. Although Escherichia coli double stranded DNA was expected to trigger the renal infiltration, no significant difference was found in the percentage of plasma cells. The complement C3 and IgG2a were detected through immunofluorescence staining on female MRL IPR kidney sections.The effective environmental factors on the renal deposition of C3 and IgG2a was compared for the in-house mice bread in the animal facility and those purchased from a vendor. The immunohistochemical analysis did not show any difference between the two groups. Adding each layer of the percentage stock ISO 20 Percoll solution can be challenging, and if they mix you have to start over again.This procedure helps with the flow cytometer and in vitter experiments, so you cannot study the different kidney cell type of populations. This procedure allows us to study the B-cells infiltrates in the kidneys and there is not a lot of information in the literature.

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