Josh Monts, Core Facility Flow Cytometer Technician, The Hormel Institute
Todd Schuster, Core Facility Manager, The Hormel Institute
Derek Gordon, Statistician, Rutgers University
We would like to thank Karen Klein from Clarus Editorial Services, Santa Fe, NM for her editorial assistance.
This work was supported in part by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R21 AR075281, and a Grant-in-Aid of Research, Artistry and Scholarship, Office of the Vice President for Research, University of Minnesota (Proposal #324240). We gratefully acknowledge support from The Hormel Institute.

All animal protocols were approved by the University of Minnesota Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee in accordance with NIH and federal guidelines. Fresh human blood and bone marrow were purchased from commercial sources. Samples were collected by the company under an approved IRB protocol from donors negative for HIV, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and screened for COVID-19. All samples were first de-identified and anonymized before being shipped by the company. Since these were commercially obtained, no IRB approval was required.
1. Preparation of solutions
NOTE: All solutions must be prepared in a biological hood with a sterile environment. Obtain biosafety level 2 (BSL2) certification for work with human blood and bone marrow.
<ol>
	<li>Prepare bone marrow harvest solution by adding 1 mL of gentamicin and 5 mL of fetal bovine serum (FBS) to 500 mL of Hank&#39;s balance salt solution (HBSS).</li>
	<li>Prepare the staining buffer solution by adding 50 mL of FBS to 500 mL of HBSS.</li>
	<li>Prepare 1x lysis buffer by combining 10 mL of 10x lysis buffer with 90 mL of sterile water.</li>
</ol>
2. Preparing the hood
<ol>
	<li>Turn on the hood and allow it to run for a few minutes to obtain proper airflow.</li>
	<li>Collect all the materials to perform bone marrow harvest. Spray them inside the hood with 70% ethanol to maintain a sterile environment. Spray the hands every time before they are taken inside the hood.</li>
	<li>Place the autoclaved tray in the hood along with autoclaved scissors, an assembled scalpel, tweezers, and curved forceps in a small cup filled with 70% ethanol to keep them sterile.</li>
	<li>Add 10 mL of bone marrow harvest solution to one 50 mL centrifuge tube and label it &#34;Limbs&#34;. Label another 50 mL centrifuge tube as &#34;Bone Marrow&#34;.</li>
	<li>Draw up 10 mL of bone marrow harvest solution into a syringe and then attach a 26 G needle.</li>
</ol>
3. Harvesting bone marrow from mice
<ol>
	<li>Euthanize the mouse using CO2 asphyxiation. Death is confirmed by the absence of a heartbeat and pinching the feet to ensure that there is no reaction. Cervical dislocation may be performed as a secondary means of complete euthanasia.</li>
	<li>Place the mouse in a 500 mL container and add enough iodine to cover half of the mouse. Gently shake and swirl the container to ensure thorough coverage. Rinse with deionized water. Perform one more iodine wash, and then two washes with 70% ethanol following the same steps.</li>
	<li>Place the mouse in the hood and lay it on its back on the tray. Grab the hind legs and pull them apart until a pop is felt; this is to separate the legs from the spine.</li>
	<li>Make a 1 cm incision on the mouse&#39;s skin near the groin area. Insert a closed pair of scissors into the incision and then open the scissors under the skin to separate it from the peritoneum.</li>
	<li>Cut the skin on the leg around the thigh, and then cut the skin down the leg to expose the muscles and bones.</li>
	<li>Remove the hind legs by cutting around the hip joint, being sure not to cut through the femur. Place the limbs in the tube labeled as &#34;Limbs&#34; When both legs are removed, place the mouse into a carcass bag and put it in the freezer. 
	NOTE: The hip bone should be felt first before cutting to guide the scissors and avoid cutting the femur bone, as most of the bone marrow is obtained from the femur.</li>
	<li>Start cutting away the muscles, tissue, and fat along one of the limbs using the scissors. Cut parallel to the bone. Then, use the scalpel and remove the remaining fat or muscle, using a perpendicular scraping motion against the bone.</li>
	<li>Once the bone is cleaned properly, separate the femur and tibia at the knee. Use the scalpel to make cuts on both ends of the femur and tibia where there is no visible bone marrow.</li>
	<li>Insert the prepared syringe and needle into the bone. If there is resistance, cut a little more off the end of the bone until there is no more resistance.
	<ol>
		<li>While holding the bone above the tube labeled as &#34;Bone Marrow&#34;, expel bone marrow harvesting solution through the bone to flush the bone marrow into the tube. Repeat on the other end of the bone to obtain the rest of the bone marrow, until the bone appears all white or empty.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Repeat steps 7-9&#160;for all remaining bones and limbs; all marrow will be flushed into the same conical tube.</li>
	<li>Using an empty 10 mL syringe and a 20 G needle, break up the clumps of bone marrow in the tube by drawing the bone marrow up and down in the syringe 5-10 times.</li>
	<li>Add a sterile 40 &#181;m filter to a clean 50 mL centrifuge tube and rinse it with 1 mL of bone marrow harvest solution. Then, filter the bone marrow to remove any remaining clumps. Label this tube &#34;Filtered Bone Marrow&#34;.</li>
	<li>Store the filtered bone marrow in the refrigerator or on ice until use. It should be used on the same day of harvesting. If not used on the same day, freeze the cells using a cryo-preservative, such as dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). 
	CAUTION: All waste from these experiments should be disposed of properly in a biohazard waste container. All sharps should go in a properly labeled biohazard sharps container.</li>
</ol>
4. Red blood cell lysis of bone marrow
<ol>
	<li>Centrifuge the bone marrow cells at 170 x g for 10 min at room temperature. Vacuum and dispose of the supernatant. Resuspend the cells in 10 mL of 1x red blood cell lysis buffer and incubate for 4 min.</li>
	<li>Add 30 mL of Dulbecco&#39;s phosphate buffered saline (DPBS) to stop the reaction of the lysis buffer. Centrifuge the cells for 8 min at 170 x g at room temperature. Vacuum and dispose of the supernatant. Resuspend in 10-20 mL of staining buffer.</li>
</ol>
5. Cell count
<ol>
	<li>Combine 500 &#956;l of cells with 9.5 mL of bone marrow harvest solution to obtain a 1:20 dilution. 
	NOTE: This will be used for cell counts and does not need to be kept sterile.</li>
	<li>Draw out 200 &#181;L of cells from the 1:20 dilution, add them to 200 &#181;L of trypan blue, and mix well.</li>
	<li>Add the mixture to a hemocytometer and count the alive and dead cells on both sides. Calculate the original cell suspension using this table (shown in Supplementary File 1) and equations: 
	Cells per milliliter: 
	<img alt="Equation 1" src="/files/ftp_upload/65118/65118eq01.jpg" style="margin: auto;" /> 
	Total Cells: 
	<img alt="Equation 2" src="/files/ftp_upload/65118/65118eq02.jpg" style="margin: auto;" /></li>
	<li>Spin down the cells at 170 x g for 10 min at 4 &#176;C and resuspend to a concentration of 10 x 106 per 1 mL (1 x 106 cells per 100 &#181;L), based on the manufacturer&#39;s suggestions for antibody dilutions.</li>
	<li>Proceed to flow cytometry (step 8).</li>
</ol>
6. Harvesting blood from mice
<ol>
	<li>Euthanize the mouse using CO2 gas or cervical dislocation.</li>
	<li>Perform a cardiac blood draw at a 45&#176; angle with a 26 G needle attached to a 1 mL syringe coated with 0.5 M ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA).</li>
	<li>Spin down the blood and resuspend in media or staining buffer. 
	NOTE: The cells will be spun down and resuspended to final concentration in staining buffer after red blood cell lysis and cell count.</li>
	<li>Perform the red blood cell lysis (step 4).</li>
	<li>Perform the cell count (step 5).</li>
	<li>Proceed to flow cytometry (step 8).</li>
</ol>
7. Processing human blood and bone marrow samples
<ol>
	<li>Perform all procedures under a BSL2-certified hood while wearing personal protective equipment.</li>
	<li>Collect the samples the previous night and perform red blood cell lysis. Ensure that the samples are de-identified and anonymized before shipping the mononuclear samples overnight on ice.</li>
	<li>Upon arrival, spin down the live cells at 170 x g at 4 &#176;C for 10 min. 
	NOTE: These are BSL2 samples which must follow local guidelines.</li>
	<li>Resuspend the cells in media or staining buffer. 
	NOTE: The cells should be spun down and resuspended to the final concentration after cell counting with staining buffer.</li>
	<li>Perform the cell count (step 5).</li>
	<li>Proceed to flow cytometry (step 8).</li>
</ol>
8. Flow cytometry
<ol>
	<li>Staining
	<ol>
		<li>Divide the cells into individually labeled tubes based on the staining panel used, including compensation controls (unstained, isotype controls, single stained, and fluorescence minus ones [FMOs]). Freeze any remaining cells or use them for fluorescence-activated cell sorting. See Table 1 for an example of a staining panel with the antibody dilutions used. 
		NOTE: For every additional fluorophore added, FMOs in combination with remaining fluorophores must be added along with a single stain of that fluorophore. Isotype controls may be used to block non-specific staining. Each new antibody used should be titrated with the samples for optimal dilution.</li>
		<li>Add antibodies according to the manufacturer&#39;s recommended dilutions and mix well by flicking the bottom of the tubes. Antibody concentrations are usually given as 1 x 106 cells per 100 &#181;L. Dilutions with antibodies and controls are shown in Table 1. Antibodies are conjugated with fluorophores and must be protected from light. 
		NOTE: It is best to use EpCAM conjugated to phycoerythrin (PE) to enable visualizing low populations of cells (titrate at 3-5 &#181;L per 1 million cells, as indicated in Table 1). PE-CD49f was used as a single stain PE control (20 &#181;L per 1 million cells), since these cells are more prevalent than PE-EpCAM and thus easier to use for compensation.</li>
		<li>Incubate for 30 min at 4 &#176;C in the dark.</li>
		<li>After incubation, bring the tubes back to the BSL2 hood and add 1 mL of staining buffer to each tube.</li>
		<li>Then, centrifuge the tubes at 170 x g at 4 &#176;C for 5-10 min.</li>
		<li>After centrifugation, bring the capped tubes with the cells back to the BSL2 hood and aspirate out the supernatant. Be sure to change the tips of the aspiration pipette between each tube to prevent cross-contamination.</li>
		<li>Resuspend the cell pellet in 1 mL of staining buffer and flick the bottom of the tubes to mix.</li>
		<li>Wash the cells two more times by repeating steps 8.1.4-8.1.7. 
		NOTE: Do not use pipettes to resuspend, to avoid losing cells.</li>
		<li>Resuspend in 500 &#181;L of staining buffer for the final resuspension before flow cytometry. Add 4&#8242;,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) or dead cell discriminator, according to the manufacturer&#39;s recommendations.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Flow cytometer
	<ol>
		<li>After setting up the machine, use the controls and FMOs to set the compensation and gates. Use Hank&#39;s balanced salt solution (HBSS) as sheath fluid to help support the fragile cells. Use PBS if HBSS is not available. 
		NOTE: The flow cytometer used and the software are listed in the Table of Materials.</li>
		<li>Load the samples one at a time and collect data points for 50,000, 100,000, 500,000, and one million events. Keep the tubes on ice or refrigerated until use. 
		NOTE: A time limit can be set when collecting to ensure sample viability.</li>
		<li>Collect the cells into 3 mL of RPMI with 10% FBS in 15 mL centrifuge tubes.</li>
		<li>If performing immunofluorescence on EpCAM+ cells, use the flow cytometer to sort 800 to 1,000 cells into each well of an 8-well slide.</li>
		<li>Sort out the EpCAM- cell population onto separate slides as a negative control to use when staining for immunofluorescence. 
		NOTE: The cells can also be sorted into 15 mL tubes containing FBS and spun onto a slide using the cytocentrifuge or a pipette to prevent cells from popping.</li>
		<li>Fix the slides in a 50% methanol/50% acetone mixture at -20 &#176;C for 10 min. Store the slides at -20 &#176;C until staining with immunofluorescence.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Flow cytometry analysis
	<ol>
		<li>Open the licensed flow cytometry analysis software.</li>
		<li>Load flow cytometry standard (FCS) files acquired from the flow cytometer with controls and samples.</li>
		<li>Click Create Group and use keywords to place samples and controls into a group. 
		NOTE: Use the &#34;no stain&#34; control to gate in the flow cytometry analysis software, as shown in Figure 3.</li>
		<li>Double click on the no stain control sample to open an ungated graph.</li>
		<li>Set the graph y-axis to SSC-A and x-axis to FSC-A (side scatter area by forward scatter area), which indicates cell size and internal complexity.</li>
		<li>Click on the polygon shape in the top left panel and create a gate around the cells. Make sure to exclude the cells on the periphery, as these are most likely debris. Label this gate &#34;Cells&#34;, as shown in Figure 3A.</li>
		<li>Once the cells are gated, double click inside the polygon shape to open another graph in a new window.</li>
		<li>Set the y-axis of the new graph to SSC-A and the x-axis to SSC-W for doublet discrimination. Click the polygon shape and create a rectangle around the single cells. Label this &#34;Single Cells&#34;, as shown in Figure 3B.</li>
		<li>Once the cells are gated, double click inside the polygon shape to open another graph in a new window.</li>
		<li>Set the y-axis to FSC-A and x-axis to DAPI-A (or whichever dead cell discriminator is used).</li>
		<li>Create a polygon gate around the DAPI negative cells on the left-hand side of the graph. Label these &#34;Live Cells&#34;, as shown in Figure 3C.</li>
		<li>Once the cells are gated, double click inside the polygon shape to open another graph in a new window.</li>
		<li>Set the y-axis to SSC-A and x-axis to EpCAM-PE (or whichever fluorophore is used to identify the EpCAM cells). Cells on the left are EpCAM negative. If any cells are shown on the right, they are EpCAM positive.</li>
		<li>Use the EpCAM-PE graph to create a polygon gate, which excludes the cells on the left and only includes the empty space on the right. Label the empty area on the right inside the polygon &#34;EpCAM&#34;, as shown in Figure 3D. 
		NOTE: This is a no stain control, so there should not be EpCAM expression. Use the no stain control to determine which cells are EpCAM positive. This completes the gating strategy for compensation, so all graphs may be closed at this time.</li>
		<li>On the workspace page, highlight the no stain lineage with &#34;Cells&#34;, &#34;Single Cells&#34;, &#34;Live Cells&#34;, and &#34;EpCAM&#34;. Right click and select copy analysis to group. This copies the gating strategy to all other loaded samples within the previously created group. If a group was not created initially, it can be created now by selecting Create Group in the top left.</li>
		<li>Go through the samples within the group and check the polygon gates drawn previously to make sure they fit with all the samples and controls. This provides the percentage number and number of cells.</li>
		<li>Click the layout editor button L in the top left corner above &#34;Workspace&#34;. These graphs may then be arranged and exported using the layout editor.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Preparation of immunofluorescence reagents
	<ol>
		<li>Prepare the antibody diluent by combining 1 g of bovine serum albumin (BSA), 2 g of non-fat milk, 10 mL of 10x tris-buffered saline (TBS), 100 &#181;L of Tween, and 90 mL of distilled water.</li>
		<li>Prepare TBST by combining 50 mL of 20x TBS, 950 mL of distilled water, and 200 &#181;L of Tween.</li>
		<li>Prepare 10% Normal Horse Serum (NHS) by combining 1 mL of NHS with 9 mL of antibody diluent (step 8.4.1).</li>
		<li>Prepare 1% NHS by combining 1 mL of 10% NHS with 9 mL of TBST.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Immunofluorescence staining
	<ol>
		<li>Remove the slides from -20 &#176;C and allow them to warm up to room temperature.</li>
		<li>Wash the slides three times in distilled water for 5 min each.</li>
		<li>Block the slides for 1 h at room temperature in 10% NHS in antibody diluent (step 8.4.3).</li>
		<li>Dilute the primary antibody (pan-cytokeratin) to 1:750 in 1% NHS in TBST (step 8.4.4). Incubate slides in the diluted primary antibody overnight at 4 &#176;C.</li>
		<li>The next day, wash the slides three times with a 1x wash buffer (PBS or TBST) for 5 min each.</li>
		<li>Dilute the secondary antibody to 1:1,000 in 1% NHS in TBST (step 8.4.4). Incubate the slides in the diluted secondary antibody for 1h at room temperature.</li>
		<li>Wash the slides three times with 1x wash buffer for 5 min each. Mount and coverslip the slides with hardset mounting media with DAPI. Use a cotton swab to gently roll out any bubbles under the coverslip.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>

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There are no known conflicts of interest.

There is some evidence in the literature of the presence of epithelial cells in the bone marrow. Previously, papers have typically investigated the role of epithelial cells within the context of disease and injury, such as in the liver, lung, gastrointestinal (GI) tract, thymus, and skin14,15,16,17. However, not much is known about the presence of these epithelial cells in the bone marrow of healthy individuals. This paper seeks to establish a reproducible method, with the aim of identifying and isolating epithelial cells from normal blood and bone marrow. This method will drive the field forward to identify why epithelial cells are present and what their role is in the blood and bone marrow in the absence of disease; perhaps these cells are part of normal tissue maintenance or activated at times of injury. The bone marrow is a repository of stem cells; however, it is unclear what the lineage of these epithelial cells may be. A recent paper discusses bone marrow-derived epithelial cells in the thymus, that first expresses EpCAM and the hematopoietic marker CD45, and then loses its CD45 expression over time after injury15. Research from our lab has also confirmed the presence of CD45+ EpCAM+ cells within healthy blood and bone marrow in the absence of injury12. However, the role of these cells is yet to be determined.
There was a need for a reproducible method to examine epithelial cells within the healthy bone marrow. The method described will help in characterizing these cells further in their normal state. There are important steps in this method to maintain reproducibility. One of the most critical steps in this protocol is maintaining a sterile environment in the hood while harvesting the bone marrow from mice. If harvesting from multiple mice, cross-contamination between samples is avoided by using new needles and syringes for each mouse. This also ensures that the sample is clean and free of any contaminants that might affect the results. In addition, the number of prepared syringes and labeled conical tubes for each additional mouse should be increased. Another important step involves flushing the bones until a clean white color is evident to ensure that most of the bone marrow cells have been removed; the chances of detecting rare cells increases in a purer sample. A modification was made to optimize the red blood cell lysis protocol; several lysis buffers were tested to find the right one that gave consistently high viability, as almost half the cells were being lost during this step. Different reagents and incubation periods may need to be optimized for improved results in other settings.
The most significant limitation of this protocol is using flow cytometry for finding rare cell populations. As discussed previously, the addition of controls and incremental counts helps increase the specificity and accuracy of the analysis. Another limitation is that appropriate markers for the population of interest must be identified in advance. Thus, one needs to know about key markers, antibodies for flow cytometry, and antibodies compatible with the target species.
These methods are an improvement over existing methods as they allow for single cell analysis at a fraction of the cost of the existing automatic CTC isolator and single cell RNA sequencing. Additionally, flow cytometry is more readily available. FACS maintained higher viability for the cells compared with prior reported results using magnetic microbead separation. Lastly, these techniques allow for the separation of cells for downstream analyses, such as bulk RNA sequencing, scRNA sequencing, or cell culture.

Epithelial cells are found in the physical barriers between our bodies and the environment and are able to recognize and respond to changes in their microenvironment1. They have a proliferating stem cell niche which provides a way to turn over new tissue and repair damage2. Our lab studies stem cells in the hair follicles of the skin; skin is a good model for studying epithelial tissue and stem cell proliferation because it is easily visible and there is a constant turnover of cells. Epithelial cancers are the most common form of cancer, possibly due to epithelial tissues, such as the skin, being the first line of defense against environmental carcinogens, leading to high turnover rates and the proliferation of epithelial cells3. Most of the skin epidermis, the top protective layer, is composed of keratinocytes, which express different types of keratins to provide support and structure4. Patients with epithelial cancers often have epithelial cells present in their blood and bone marrow that also express keratins. Liquid biopsies are a noninvasive way to detect and monitor these epithelial cells in different bodily fluids5. Circulating epithelial cells, also called circulating tumor cells (CTCs), are found in peripheral blood and can be biomarkers for cancer prognosis, as well as guide individualized therapy treatments. CTCs can also indicate disease progression, treatment efficacy, and overall patient survival5,6.
Epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) is a clinically used marker for CTCs and can identify tumors of epithelial origin in cancer patients. EpCAM plays a role in cell adhesion, migration, signaling, proliferation, and differentiation6. For a circulating epithelial cell to be classified as a CTC, it must be positive for cytokeratins 8, 18, and 19, and negative for CD45, a common leukocyte marker6. CTCs are usually identified by first depleting CD45 with magnetic microbeads, followed by testing for EpCAM and cytokeratin 19 using immunofluorescence microscopy7. The main limitation in the detection of CTCs is their rarity; they make up less than 0.01% of all cells in the blood,&#160;and very few survive in circulation to reach distant organs8,9,10. Consideration must be taken in designing experiments and techniques to isolate and identify these cells due to their rare nature. Currently, there is only one Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved automated single-cell sorter used for identifying CTCs, and it uses EpCAM as its biomarker. Other methods include magnetic bead separation and flow cytometry, or a combination of these methods. There is a need for new techniques that have higher sensitivity and specificity for the detection of rare CTCs11.
Flow cytometry is a preferred method for the detection of rare cell populations in the blood, bone marrow, and other tissue samples. These rare cells can include stem cells, circulating endothelial cells, CTCs, and residual disease cells. Flow cytometry enables quantitative measurements of each cell type and sorts these cells for further testing7,9. Incremental counts were performed to ensure an accurate assessment of these rare cells. The ability to use gating to exclude cells from further analysis is a way to increase specificity when analyzing cells. The limitations of flow cytometry are the time required for the analysis of large samples and the lack of visual confirmation for cell identity. To overcome this, immunofluorescence microscopy was performed on the sorted cells to confirm their identities.
Previously our lab has shown that in mice the bone marrow cells are recruited and contribute to skin tumors12. These bone marrow-derived cells are positive for pan-cytokeratin and epidermal cytokeratin. To further elucidate the role of epithelial stem cells, bone marrow-derived cells, and cytokeratin-expressing cells in tumor progression, EpCAM+ cytokeratin-positive cells in normal murine and human blood and bone marrow samples were looked for. As with most experiments, this method was developed through multiple iterations. Previously, transgenic mice were used along with incremental counts to look for K14GFP-expressing cells in the bone marrow12. As more cells were counted, a representative population of rare cells was able to be identified, as shown in Figure 1 in the representative results section. The rationale for investigating epithelial cells in normal blood and bone marrow was based on early literature on CTCs, where normal healthy donors had background levels of EpCAM+ cells13. As mentioned previously, EpCAM characterization often begins with the depletion of CD45. This step was omitted because some hematopoietic cells have EpCAM and cytokeratin expression for unknown reasons that need to be investigated further. Therefore, cells were sorted based on the presence or absence of EpCAM, irrespective of cell lineage, and then immunostained for cytokeratin. The protocol below and the workflow shown in Figure 2 describe a technique that uses flow cytometry with compensation and controls, statistical methods, and immunofluorescence imaging to isolate and identify these rare populations of epithelial cells.

<table><tbody><tr><td>40 &amp;mu;m Cell Strainer</td><td>Falcon</td><td>352340</td><td>Used to filter out any large clumps of cells from bone marrow</td></tr><tr><td>5 mL Polystyrene Round-bottom tube</td><td>Falcon</td><td>352054</td><td>Tubes used for flow cytometry</td></tr><tr><td>500 mL jar with lid</td><td>Nalgene</td><td>11-823-32</td><td>Used to wash the mouse</td></tr><tr><td>190 proof Ethanol</td><td>Decon laboratories Inc</td><td>2801</td><td>Diluted to 70% with dH2O</td></tr><tr><td>Alexa Fluor 488 Goat anti-rabbit IgG (H+L)</td><td>Invitrogen</td><td>A11008</td><td>Dilution: 1:1000</td></tr><tr><td>Brightline Hemacytometer</td><td>Hausser Scientific</td><td>02-671-10</td><td>Used to count alive cells</td></tr><tr><td>Bovine Serum Albumin</td><td>Jackson ImmunoResearch</td><td>001-000-162</td><td>Component of antibody diluent</td></tr><tr><td>Characterized Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS)</td><td>Hyclone</td><td>SH30071.03</td><td>Component of staining buffer and harvesting solution</td></tr><tr><td>Curity gauze sponges</td><td>Covidien</td><td>2187</td><td>Used to keep a clean work area when harvesting limbs and bone marrow</td></tr><tr><td>Curved Forceps</td><td>Miltex</td><td>18-784</td><td>Used during harvest</td></tr><tr><td>Cytokeratin, Wide Spectrum Screening</td><td>Dako</td><td>Z0622</td><td>Dilution 1:750 *Now discontinued</td></tr><tr><td>Dulbecco&#039;s Phosphate Buffered Saline (DPBS 1x)</td><td>Gibco</td><td>14190-144 500mL</td><td>Used to stop the red blood cell lysis reaction</td></tr><tr><td>Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid</td><td>Sigma Aldrich</td><td>E9884-100G</td><td>Used at 0.5 M&amp;nbsp;</td></tr><tr><td>Gentamicin sulfate</td><td>Lonza</td><td>17-518Z</td><td>Component of harvesting solution</td></tr><tr><td>Hank&#039;s Balanced Salt Solution (HBSS 1x)</td><td>Gibco</td><td>14175-095 500mL</td><td>Component of harvesting solution and staining buffer solution</td></tr><tr><td>Luer-Lok tip 10 mL syringe</td><td>Becton, Dickinson and Co</td><td>309604</td><td>Used with 26G needle to flush bones, used with 20G needle to break up clumps</td></tr><tr><td>Magic touch 2 ice bucket</td><td>BelArt</td><td>M16807-2001</td><td>Used to store the specimens on ice</td></tr><tr><td>Nonfat dry milk</td><td>Apex</td><td>20-241</td><td>Component of Antibody Diluent</td></tr><tr><td>Normal horse serum</td><td>Vector</td><td>ZE0122</td><td>Component of Antibody Diluent</td></tr><tr><td>PE anti-human CD 326 (EpCAM)</td><td>Biolegend</td><td>324206</td><td>Dilution: 5 &amp;micro;l in 100 &amp;micro;l per 1x10&lt;sup&gt;6&lt;/sup&gt; cells</td></tr><tr><td>PE anti-mouse CD 326 (EpCAM)</td><td>Biolegend</td><td>118205</td><td>Dilution: 3 &amp;micro;l in 100 &amp;micro;l per 1x10&lt;sup&gt;6&lt;/sup&gt; cells</td></tr><tr><td>PE mouse IgG2b, &amp;kappa; isotype control</td><td>Biolegend</td><td>400313</td><td>Dilution: 1 &amp;micro;l in 100 &amp;micro;l per 1x10&lt;sup&gt;6&lt;/sup&gt; cells</td></tr><tr><td>PE rat anti-human CD49f</td><td>BD Biosciences</td><td>555763</td><td>Dilution: 20 &amp;micro;l in 100 &amp;micro;l per 1x10&lt;sup&gt;6&lt;/sup&gt; cells</td></tr><tr><td>PE rat IgG2am, &amp;kappa; Isotype control</td><td>Biolegend</td><td>400508</td><td>Dilution: 1 &amp;micro;l in 100 &amp;micro;l per 1x10&lt;sup&gt;6&lt;/sup&gt; cells</td></tr><tr><td>Polypropylene Conical Centrifuge Tubes 50 mL</td><td>Basix</td><td>14-955-240</td><td>Used in the centrifuge</td></tr><tr><td>Povidone-Iodine Scrub</td><td>Aplicare</td><td>82-227</td><td>Antiseptic used to sterilize the mice</td></tr><tr><td>PrecisionGlide Needle 20G x 1 1/2</td><td>Becton, Dickinson and Co</td><td>305176</td><td>20G needle used to break up bone marrow clumps</td></tr><tr><td>PrecisionGlide Needle 26G x 1/2</td><td>Becton, Dickinson and Co</td><td>305111</td><td>26G needle used to flush bone marrow from bones</td></tr><tr><td>PTFE Printed Slides</td><td>Electron Microscopy Services</td><td>63422-06</td><td>8 well slides cells sorted onto for immunofluorescence</td></tr><tr><td>RBC Lysis buffer 10X</td><td>Invitrogen</td><td>00-4300-54</td><td>Dilution 1:10 using sterile deionized water</td></tr><tr><td>Scissors</td><td>Roboz</td><td>RS-6762</td><td>Used during harvest</td></tr><tr><td>Stainless steel surgical blade #4</td><td>Bard-Parker</td><td>371222</td><td>Used during harvest</td></tr><tr><td>Sterile tray</td><td>Polar ware</td><td>10F</td><td>Used during harvest</td></tr><tr><td>StretchEase Powder-free nitrile examination gloves</td><td>Denville Scientific</td><td>G4161</td><td>Used during harvest</td></tr><tr><td>Surgical Scalpel handle #4</td><td>Fischer</td><td>12-000-164</td><td>Used with surgical blade</td></tr><tr><td>TBS 20x</td><td>Thermo</td><td></td><td>Component of TBST, used at 1X</td></tr><tr><td>Trypan Blue Stain (0.4%)</td><td>Gibco</td><td>15250-061</td><td>Used to count dead cells. Filtered with .45 &amp;micro;m</td></tr><tr><td>Tween 20</td><td>Sigma Aldrich</td><td>P1379-500mL</td><td>Component of TBST</td></tr><tr><td>Tweezers</td><td>Miltex</td><td>6-8</td><td>Used during harvest</td></tr><tr><td>Vectashield Vibrance Antifade Mounting Medium with DAPI</td><td>Vector</td><td>H-1800</td><td>Nuclear stain for immunofluorescence</td></tr></tbody></table>

evidence for epcam and cytokeratin expressing epithelial cells in normal human and murine blood and bone marrow

Epithelial cells have been identified in the blood and bone marrow of patients with cancer and other diseases. However, the presence of normal epithelial cells in the blood and bone marrow of healthy individuals has yet to be identified in a consistent way. Presented here is a reproducible method for isolating epithelial cells from healthy human and murine blood and bone marrow (BM) using flow cytometry and immunofluorescence (IF) microscopy. Epithelial cells in healthy individuals were first identified and isolated via flow cytometry using epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM). These EpCAM+ cells were confirmed to express keratin using immunofluorescence microscopy in Krt1-14;mTmG transgenic mice. Human blood samples had 0.18% &#177; 0.0004 EpCAM+ cells (SEM; n=7 biological replicates, 4 experimental replicates). In human BM, 3.53% &#177; 0.006 (SEM; n=3 biological replicates, 4 experimental replicates) of mononuclear cells were EpCAM+. In mouse blood, EpCAM+ cells constituted 0.45% &#177; 0.0006 (SEM; n=2 biological replicates, 4 experimental replicates), and in mouse BM, 5.17% &#177; 0.001 (SEM; n=3 biological replicates, 4 experimental replicates) were EpCAM+. In mice, all the EpCAM+ cells were immunoreactive to pan-cytokeratin, as determined by IF microscopy. Results were confirmed using Krt1-14;mTmG transgenic mice, with low (8.6 native GFP+ cells per 106 cells analyzed; 0.085% of viable cells), but significant numbers (p &#60; 0.0005) of GFP+ cells present in normal murine BM, that were not the result of randomness compared with multiple negative controls. Further, EpCAM+ cells in mouse blood were more heterogeneous than CD45+ cells (0.58% in BM; 0.13% in blood). These observations conclude that cells expressing cytokeratin proteins are reproducibly detectable among mononuclear cells from human and murine blood and BM. We demonstrate a method of tissue harvesting, flow cytometry, and immunostaining that can be used to identify and determine the function of these pan-cytokeratin epithelial cells in healthy individuals.

Using these methods, rare populations of epithelial cells in the blood and bone marrow of normal humans and mice were visualized. With the proper compensations and controls as described, the results consistently that showed 4%-5% of cells in murine bone marrow were EpCAM+, regardless of how many cells were counted, as shown in Figure 4 and Figure 5. In murine blood samples, less than 0.5% of cells were EpCAM+, as shown in Figure 6. In human bone marrow samples, 2%-5% of cells were EpCAM+, as shown in Figure 7 and Figure 8. While 2%-5% is a big range, percentages within each individual donor were consistent as incrementally more cells were counted. In human blood samples, around 0.3% of cells were EpCAM+, as shown in Figure 9. Our control samples (no stain, isotype control, and FMOs) yielded very few false-positive EpCAM+ results, as shown in Figure 4 and Figure 7. Cells from the EpCAM+ and EpCAM- groups that were sorted onto slides showed positive staining for pan-cytokeratin in EpCAM+ samples, and were negative for pan-cytokeratin in EpCAM- samples, as shown in Figure 10. These results indicate that the experiments were appropriately designed and reproducible.
<img alt="Figure 1" class="xfigimg" src="/files/ftp_upload/65118/65118fig01.jpg" /> 
Figure 1: Krt14Cre;mTmG transgenic mice with incremental counts of bone marrow. The bone marrow of Krt1-14;mTmG mice were counted incrementally. GFP positive cells indicate keratin 14 expression and were identified using flow cytometry. As more bone marrow cells were counted, this keratin 14 positive cell population was more easily identifiable. <a href="https://www.jove.com/files/ftp_upload/65118/65118fig01large.jpg" target="_blank">Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.</a>
<img alt="Figure 2" class="xfigimg" src="/files/ftp_upload/65118/65118fig02.jpg" /> 
Figure 2: Workflow for EpCAM+ and cytokeratin+ cells. The bone marrow and blood cells were first sorted using fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) to separate EpCAM+ and EpCAM- cells. These cells were sorted into two different test tubes, as well as onto two different slides. The cells sorted into test tubes were spun onto slides using a cytocentrifuge. The slides were then stained using a pan-cytokeratin primary antibody, then stained with a secondary antibody. The slides were analyzed using fluorescence microscopy to observe pan-cytokeratin expression. <a href="https://www.jove.com/files/ftp_upload/65118/65118fig02large.jpg" target="_blank">Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.</a>
<img alt="Figure 3" class="xfigimg" src="/files/ftp_upload/65118/65118fig03.jpg" /> 
Figure 3: Flow cytometry analysis software. When analyzing flow cytometry data using analysis software, the no stain control is used to select the cells of interest. Cells are first selected with SSC-A and FSC-A, which show the internal complexity and size of the cells. (A) A polygon gate is drawn around the cells. (B) Single cells are acquired by gating SSC-A by SSC-W. (C) Live cells are acquired by gating FSC-A versus DAPI. (D) EpCAM negative cells are excluded by gating to the right of the EpCAM negative cells. <a href="https://www.jove.com/files/ftp_upload/65118/65118fig03large.jpg" target="_blank">Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.</a>
<img alt="Figure 4" class="xfigimg" src="/files/ftp_upload/65118/65118fig04.jpg" /> 
Figure 4: Flow cytometric analysis of EpCAM+ cells in mouse bone marrow. Controls of no stain, isotype, and FMOs are shown in the top panel, with the incremental counts of 50,000, 100,000, and 500,000 cells shown in the bottom panel. These charts visualize the consistency in percentages across counts, despite the overall increase in total cells counted. The panels on the right indicate the gating strategy, as discussed previously in the flow cytometry analysis section and as shown in Figure 3. <a href="https://www.jove.com/files/ftp_upload/65118/65118fig04large.jpg" target="_blank">Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.</a>
<img alt="Figure 5" class="xfigimg" src="/files/ftp_upload/65118/65118fig05.jpg" /> 
Figure 5: EpCAM+ cells in mouse bone marrow comprise 5.17% &#177; 0.001% of the population. The bone marrow cells of three individual mice were analyzed. The appropriate controls were included for proper scientific rigor. The percentage of positive cells remained consistent across the samples, due to the mice being genetically identical. <a href="https://www.jove.com/files/ftp_upload/65118/65118fig05large.jpg" target="_blank">Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.</a>
<img alt="Figure 6" class="xfigimg" src="/files/ftp_upload/65118/65118fig06.jpg" /> 
Figure 6: EpCAM+ cells in mouse blood comprise 0.45% &#177; 0.0006% of the population. The blood cells of two individual mice were analyzed. Controls were included to show the proper procedure was followed to produce conclusive results. <a href="https://www.jove.com/files/ftp_upload/65118/65118fig06large.jpg" target="_blank">Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.</a>
<img alt="Figure 7" class="xfigimg" src="/files/ftp_upload/65118/65118fig07.jpg" /> 
Figure 7: Flow cytometric analysis on EpCAM+ human bone marrow. Controls of no stain, isotype, and FMOs are shown in the top panel, and the incremental counts of 50,000, 100,000, and 500,000 cells are shown in the bottom panel. These charts visualize the consistency in percentages across counts, despite the overall increase of total cells counted. The panels on the right indicate the gating strategy, as discussed previously in the flow cytometry analysis section and as shown in Figure 3. <a href="https://www.jove.com/files/ftp_upload/65118/65118fig07large.jpg" target="_blank">Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.</a>
<img alt="Figure 8" class="xfigimg" src="/files/ftp_upload/65118/65118fig08.jpg" /> 
Figure 8: EpCAM+ cells in human bone marrow comprise 3.53% &#177; 0.006% of the population. Three different human bone marrow samples were analyzed. Appropriate controls for scientific rigor were included. The percentage of positive cells varies due to genetic heterogeneity among humans. <a href="https://www.jove.com/files/ftp_upload/65118/65118fig08large.jpg" target="_blank">Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.</a>
<img alt="Figure 9" class="xfigimg" src="/files/ftp_upload/65118/65118fig09.jpg" /> 
Figure 9: EpCAM+ cells of human blood comprise 0.18% &#177; 0.0004% of the population. Three different human blood samples were analyzed. Appropriate controls for scientific rigor were included. <a href="https://www.jove.com/files/ftp_upload/65118/65118fig09large.jpg" target="_blank">Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.</a>
<img alt="Figure 10" class="xfigimg" src="/files/ftp_upload/65118/65118fig10.jpg" /> 
Figure 10: Immunofluorescence of EpCAM+ and EpCAM- slides. FACS was used to separate EpCAM+ and EpCAM- cells. Pan-cytokeratin was stained for using the DAKO pan-cytokeratin antibody. No primary antibody control in normal serum was used, as the pan-cytokeratin is a polyclonal antibody. These results confirm the accuracy of FACS. <a href="https://www.jove.com/files/ftp_upload/65118/65118fig10large.jpg" target="_blank">Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.</a>
<table border="1" fo:keep-together.within-page="1" fo:keep-with-next.within-page="always">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td></td>
			<td colspan="3">Human Bone Marrow or Blood</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Antibody</td>
			<td>Tube #</td>
			<td># of Cells</td>
			<td>AB Conc</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Unstained</td>
			<td>1</td>
			<td>1x106</td>
			<td>X</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>DAPI only</td>
			<td>2</td>
			<td>1x106</td>
			<td>1uL/mL</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>PE isotype control</td>
			<td>3</td>
			<td>1x106</td>
			<td>1 uL</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>CD49f-PE Single Stain Control</td>
			<td>4</td>
			<td>1x106</td>
			<td>20 uL in 100uL per 1x106</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>EpCAM-PE Low Titration</td>
			<td>5</td>
			<td>1x106</td>
			<td>3 uL in 100uL per 1x106</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>EpCAM-PE Medium Titration</td>
			<td>6</td>
			<td>1x106</td>
			<td>4 uL in 100uL per 1x106</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>EpCAM-PE High Titration</td>
			<td>7</td>
			<td>1x106</td>
			<td>5 uL in 100uL per 1x106</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>EpCAM-PE High Sort on Slides</td>
			<td>8</td>
			<td>10x106</td>
			<td>50 uL in 1 mL</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
Table 1: Flow cytometry staining panel. An example of a flow cytometry staining panel for blood or bone marrow mononuclear cells. Controls included are DAPI only, unstained control, and PE single stain control (PE-CD49f was used as a better positive control). Fluorescence minus one is not included in this panel as it is only a single color (PE). When adding more fluorophore colors, such as fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) or allophycocyanin (APC), FMOs should be included by excluding one fluorophore for each FMO control.
Supplementary File 1: Live cell counting using hematocytometer. <a href="https://www.jove.com/files/ftp_upload/65118/Suppli-1_65118.docx" target="_blank">Please click here to download this File.</a>

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Evidence for EpCAM and Cytokeratin Expressing Epithelial Cells in Normal Human and Murine Blood and Bone Marrow at JoVE.com

Evidence for EpCAM and Cytokeratin Expressing Epithelial Cells in Normal Human and Murine Blood and Bone Marrow

This paper presents a reproducible method with new findings on the presence of epithelial cells in normal human and mouse blood and bone marrow using flow cytometry and immunofluorescence microscopy. Krt1-14;mTmG transgenic mice were used as an in vivo method to confirm these findings.

Epithelial cells have been identified in the blood and bone marrow of patients with cancer and other diseases. However, the presence of normal epithelial ...

evidence-for-epcam-cytokeratin-expressing-epithelial-cells-normal

Research

JoVE Journal

Biology

1.2K Views.  University of Minnesota. Deze techniek demonstreert een reproduceerbare methode om epitheelcellen in het bloed en beenmerg van gezonde personen te isoleren om te gebruiken voor verdere downstream-analyse. Deze techniek maakt de isolatie van epitheelcellen mogelijk tegen een fractie van de kosten van automatische circulerende tumorcelisolatie vanwege de toegankelijkheid van flowcytometrie. Deze methode kan implicaties hebben in ontwikkelings- en stamcelbiologie en regeneratieve therapieën.Het kan ook worden ge...

Video: Evidence for EpCAM and Cytokeratin Expressing Epithelial Cells in Normal Human and Murine Blood and Bone Marrow

Automated Quantification of Hematopoietic Cell &#8211; Stromal Cell Interactions in Histological Images of Undecalcified Bone

Confocal microscopy is the method of choice for the analysis of localization of multiple cell types within complex tissues such as the bone marrow. However, the analysis and quantification of cellular localization is difficult, as in many cases it relies on manual counting, thus bearing the risk of introducing a rater-dependent bias and reducing interrater reliability. Moreover, it is often difficult to judge whether the co-localization between two cells results from random positioning, especially when cell types differ strongly in the frequency of their occurrence. Here, a method for unbiased quantification of cellular co-localization in the bone marrow is introduced. The protocol describes the sample preparation used to obtain histological sections of whole murine long bones including the bone marrow, as well as the staining protocol and the acquisition of high-resolution images. An analysis workflow spanning from the recognition of hematopoietic and non-hematopoietic cell types in 2-dimensional (2D) bone marrow images to the quantification of the direct contacts between those cells is presented. This also includes a neighborhood analysis, to obtain information about the cellular microenvironment surrounding a certain cell type. In order to evaluate whether co-localization of two cell types is the mere result of random cell positioning or reflects preferential associations between the cells, a simulation tool which is suitable for testing this hypothesis in the case of hematopoietic as well as stromal cells, is used. This approach is not limited to the bone marrow, and can be extended to other tissues to permit reproducible, quantitative analysis of histological data.

A strategy to quantitatively analyze histological data in the bone marrow is presented. Confocal microscopy of fluorescently labeled cells in tissue sections results in 2-dimensional images, which are automatically analyzed. Co-localization analyses of different cell types are compared to data from simulated images, giving quantitative information about cellular interactions.

Confocal microscopy is the method of choice for the analysis of localization of multiple cell types within complex tissues such as the bone marrow. ...

Developmental Biology

Ex vivo Mimicry of Normal and Abnormal Human Hematopoiesis

Hematopoietic stem cells require a unique microenvironment in order to sustain blood cell formation1; the bone marrow (BM) is a complex three-dimensional (3D) tissue wherein hematopoiesis is regulated by spatially organized cellular microenvironments termed niches2-4. The organization of the BM niches is critical for the function or dysfunction of normal or malignant BM5. Therefore a better understanding of the in vivo microenvironment using an ex vivo mimicry would help us elucidate the molecular, cellular and microenvironmental determinants of leukemogenesis6.
Currently, hematopoietic cells are cultured in vitro in two-dimensional (2D) tissue culture flasks/well-plates7 requiring either co-culture with allogenic or xenogenic stromal cells or addition of exogenous cytokines8. These conditions are artificial and differ from the in vivo microenvironment in that they lack the 3D cellular niches and expose the cells to abnormally high cytokine concentrations which can result in differentiation and loss of pluripotency9,10.
Herein, we present a novel 3D bone marrow culture system that simulates the in vivo 3D growth environment and supports multilineage hematopoiesis in the absence of exogenous growth factors. The highly porous scaffold used in this system made of polyurethane (PU), facilitates high-density cell growth across a higher specific surface area than the conventional monolayer culture in 2D11. Our work has indicated that this model supported the growth of human cord blood (CB) mononuclear cells (MNC)12 and primary leukemic cells in the absence of exogenous cytokines. This novel 3D mimicry provides a viable platform for the development of a human experimental model to study hematopoiesis and to explore novel treatments for leukemia.

Ex vivo Mimicry of Normal and Abnormal Human Hematopoiesis

A 3D culture system for hematopoiesis is described using human cord blood and leukemic bone marrow cells. The method is based on the use of a porous synthetic polyurethane scaffold coated with extracellular matrix proteins. This scaffold is adaptable to accommodate a wide range of cells.

Hematopoietic stem cells require a unique microenvironment in order to sustain blood cell formation1; the bone marrow (BM) is a complex three-dimensional ...

Bioengineering

Isolation of Murine Embryonic Hemogenic Endothelial Cells

The specification of hemogenic endothelial cells from embryonic vascular endothelium occurs during brief developmental periods within distinct tissues, and is necessary for the emergence of definitive HSPC from the murine extra embryonic yolk sac, placenta, umbilical vessels, and the embryonic aorta-gonad-mesonephros (AGM) region. The transient nature and small size of this cell population renders its reproducible isolation for careful quantification and experimental applications technically difficult. We have established a fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS)-based protocol for simultaneous isolation of hemogenic endothelial cells and HSPC during their peak generation times in the yolk sac and AGM. We demonstrate methods for dissection of yolk sac and AGM tissues from mouse embryos, and we present optimized tissue digestion and antibody conjugation conditions for maximal cell survival prior to identification and retrieval via FACS. Representative FACS analysis plots are shown that identify the hemogenic endothelial cell and HSPC phenotypes, and describe a methylcellulose-based assay for evaluating their blood forming potential on a clonal level.

Hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPC) derive from specialized (hemogenic) endothelial cells during development, yet little is known about the process by which some endothelial cells specify to become blood forming. We demonstrate a flow-cytometry based method allowing simultaneous isolation of hemogenic endothelial cells and HSPC from murine embryonic tissues.

The specification of hemogenic endothelial cells from embryonic vascular endothelium occurs during brief developmental periods within distinct tissues, ...

Isolation of Endothelial Progenitor Cells from Human Umbilical Cord Blood

The existence of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in peripheral blood and its involvement in vasculogenesis was first reported by Ashara and colleagues1. Later, others documented the existence of similar types of EPCs originating from bone marrow2,3. More recently, Yoder and Ingram showed that EPCs derived from umbilical cord blood had a higher proliferative potential compared to ones isolated from adult peripheral blood4,5,6. Apart from being involved in postnatal vasculogenesis, EPCs have also shown promise as a cell source for creating tissue-engineered vascular and heart valve constructs7,8. Various isolation protocols exist, some of which involve the cell sorting of mononuclear cells (MNCs) derived from the sources mentioned earlier with the help of endothelial and hematopoietic markers, or culturing these MNCs with specialized endothelial growth medium, or a combination of these techniques9. Here, we present a protocol for the isolation and culture of EPCs using specialized endothelial medium supplemented with growth factors, without the use of immunosorting, followed by the characterization of the isolated cells using Western blotting and immunostaining.

The goal of this protocol is to isolate endothelial progenitor cells from umbilical cord blood. Some of the applications include using these cells as a biomarker for identifying patients with cardiovascular risk, treating ischemic diseases, and creating tissue-engineered vascular and heart valve constructs.

The existence of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in peripheral blood and its involvement in vasculogenesis was first reported by Ashara and ...

Adaptation of Semiautomated Circulating Tumor Cell (CTC) Assays for Clinical and Preclinical Research Applications

The majority of cancer-related deaths occur subsequent to the development of metastatic disease. This highly lethal disease stage is associated with the presence of circulating tumor cells (CTCs). These rare cells have been demonstrated to be of clinical significance in metastatic breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers. The current gold standard in clinical CTC detection and enumeration is the FDA-cleared CellSearch system (CSS). This manuscript outlines the standard protocol utilized by this platform as well as two&#160;additional adapted protocols that describe the detailed process of user-defined marker optimization for protein characterization of patient CTCs and a comparable protocol for CTC capture in very low volumes of blood, using standard CSS reagents, for studying in vivo preclinical mouse models of metastasis. In addition, differences in CTC quality between healthy donor blood spiked with cells from tissue culture versus patient blood samples are highlighted. Finally, several commonly discrepant items that can lead to CTC misclassification errors are outlined. Taken together, these protocols will provide a useful resource for users of this platform interested in preclinical and clinical research pertaining to metastasis and CTCs.

Adaptation of Semiautomated Circulating Tumor Cell CTC Assays for Clinical and Preclinical Research Applications

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are prognostic in several metastatic cancers. This manuscript describes the gold standard CellSearch system (CSS) CTC enumeration platform and highlights common misclassification errors. In addition, two&#160;adapted protocols are described for user-defined marker characterization of CTCs and CTC enumeration in preclinical mouse models of metastasis using this technology.

The majority of cancer-related deaths occur subsequent to the development of metastatic disease. This highly lethal disease stage is associated with the ...

Medicine

Isolation and Characterization of Bone Marrow Microenvironment in Myeloid Neoplasms

Identifying Bone Marrow Microenvironmental Populations in Myelodysplastic Syndrome and Acute Myeloid Leukemia

The bone marrow microenvironment consists of distinct cell populations, such as mesenchymal stromal cells, endothelial cells, osteolineage cells, and fibroblasts, which provide support for hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). In addition to supporting normal HSCs, the bone marrow microenvironment also plays a role in the development of hematopoietic stem cell disorders, such as myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). MDS-associated mutations in HSCs lead to a block in differentiation and progressive bone marrow failure, especially in the elderly. MDS can often progress to therapy-resistant AML, a disease characterized by a rapid accumulation of immature myeloid blasts. The bone marrow microenvironment is known to be altered in patients with these myeloid neoplasms. Here, a comprehensive protocol to isolate and phenotypically characterize bone marrow microenvironmental cells from murine models of myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia is described. Isolating and characterizing changes in the bone marrow niche populations can help determine their role in disease initiation and progression and may lead to the development of novel therapeutics targeting cancer-promoting alterations in the bone marrow stromal populations.

Author Spotlight: Analyzing Bone Marrow Microenvironment in Murine Hematological Malignancies 

Here a detailed protocol to isolate and characterize bone marrow microenvironmental populations from murine models of myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid leukemia is presented. This technique identifies changes in the non-hematopoietic bone marrow niche, including the endothelial and mesenchymal stromal cells, with disease progression.

The bone marrow microenvironment consists of distinct cell populations, such as mesenchymal stromal cells, endothelial cells, osteolineage cells, and ...

Cancer Research

Identification and Analysis of Mouse Erythroid Progenitors using the CD71/TER119 Flow-cytometric Assay

The study of erythropoiesis aims to understand how red cells are formed from earlier hematopoietic and erythroid progenitors. Specifically, the rate of red cell formation is regulated by the hormone erythropoietin (Epo), whose synthesis is triggered by tissue hypoxia. A threat to adequate tissue oxygenation results in a rapid increase in Epo, driving an increase in erythropoietic rate, a process known as the erythropoietic stress response. The resulting increase in the number of circulating red cells improves tissue oxygen delivery. An efficient erythropoietic stress response is therefore critical to the survival and recovery from physiological and pathological conditions such as high altitude, anemia, hemorrhage, chemotherapy or stem cell transplantation. 
The mouse is a key model for the study of erythropoiesis and its stress response. Mouse definitive (adult-type) erythropoiesis takes place in the fetal liver between embryonic days 12.5 and 15.5, in the neonatal spleen, and in adult spleen and bone marrow. Classical methods of identifying erythroid progenitors in tissue rely on the ability of these cells to give rise to red cell colonies when plated in Epo-containing semi-solid media. Their erythroid precursor progeny are identified based on morphological criteria. Neither of these classical methods allow access to large numbers of differentiation-stage-specific erythroid cells for molecular study. Here we present a flow-cytometric method of identifying and studying differentiation-stage-specific erythroid progenitors and precursors, directly in the context of freshly isolated mouse tissue. The assay relies on the cell-surface markers CD71, Ter119, and on the flow-cytometric 'forward-scatter' parameter, which is a function of cell size. The CD71/Ter119 assay can be used to study erythroid progenitors during their response to erythropoietic stress in vivo, for example, in anemic mice or mice housed in low oxygen conditions. It may also be used to study erythroid progenitors directly in the tissues of genetically modified adult mice or embryos, in order to assess the specific role of the modified molecular pathway in erythropoiesis.

A flow-cytometric method for identification and molecular analysis of differentiation-stage-specific murine erythroid progenitors and precursors, directly in freshly &#x2013;harvested mouse bone marrow, spleen or fetal liver. The assay relies on cell-surface markers CD71, Ter119, and cell size.

The study of erythropoiesis aims to understand how red cells are formed from earlier hematopoietic and erythroid progenitors. Specifically, the rate of ...

Isolation of Primary Murine Skeletal Muscle Microvascular Endothelial Cells

The endothelial cells of skeletal muscle capillaries (muscle microvascular endothelial cells, MMEC) build up the barrier between blood stream and skeletal muscles regulating the exchange of fluids and nutrients as well as the immune response against infectious agents by controlling immune cell migration. For these functions, MMEC form a functional &#34;myovascular unit&#34; (MVU), with further cell types, such as fibroblasts, pericytes and skeletal muscle cells. Consequently, a dysfunction of MMEC and therefore the MVU contributes to a vast variety of myopathies. However, regulatory mechanisms of MMEC in health and disease remain insufficiently understood and their elucidation precedes more specific treatments for myopathies. The isolation and in-depth investigation of primary MMEC functions in the context of the MVU might facilitate a better understanding of these processes.
This article provides a protocol to isolate primary murine MMEC of the skeletal muscle by mechanical and enzymatic dissociation including purification and culture maintenance steps.

Microvascular endothelial cells of skeletal muscles (MMEC) shape the inner wall of muscle capillaries and regulate both, exchange of fluids/molecules and migration of (immune) cells between muscle tissue and blood. Isolation of primary murine MMEC, as described here, enables comprehensive in vitro investigations of the &#34;myovascular unit&#34;.

The endothelial cells of skeletal muscle capillaries (muscle microvascular endothelial cells, MMEC) build up the barrier between blood stream and skeletal ...

Neuroscience

Preparing Mouse Thymic Epithelial Cells for Analysis of Intracellular Molecules

Preparation of Single-Cell Suspension of Mouse Thymic Epithelial Cells and Staining of Intracellular Molecules for Flow Cytometric Analysis

Thymic epithelial cells (TECs) play an essential role in promoting the development and repertoire selection of T cells. Cortical TECs (cTECs) in the thymic cortex induce early T cell development and positive selection of cortical thymocytes. In contrast, medullary TECs (mTECs) in the thymic medulla attract positively selected thymocytes from the cortex and establish self-tolerance in T cells. A variety of molecules, including DLL4 and beta5t expressed in cTECs, as well as Aire and CCL21 expressed in mTECs, contribute to thymus function supporting T cell development and selection. Flow cytometric analysis of functionally relevant molecules in cTECs and mTECs is useful to improve our understanding of the biology of TECs, even though current methods for the preparation of single-cell suspensions of TECs can retrieve only a small fraction of TECs (approximately 1% for cTECs and approximately 10% for mTECs) from young adult mouse thymus. Because many of these functionally relevant molecules in TECs are localized within the cells, we describe our protocols for the preparation of single-cell suspension of mouse TECs and the staining of intracellular molecules for flow cytometric analysis.

Preparation of Single-Cell Suspension of Mouse Thymic Epithelial Cells and Staining of Intracellular Molecules for Flow Cytometric AnalysisMechanisms

We describe protocols for the preparation of single-cell suspension of mouse thymic epithelial cells and the staining of intracellular molecules for flow cytometric analysis.

Thymic epithelial cells (TECs) play an essential role in promoting the development and repertoire selection of T cells. Cortical TECs (cTECs) in the ...

Immunology and Infection

Flow Cytometry Analysis of Murine Bone Marrow Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells and Stromal Niche Cells

The bone marrow (BM) is the soft tissue found within bones where hematopoiesis, the process by which new blood cells are generated, primarily occurs. As such, it contains hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs), as well as supporting stromal cells that contribute to the maintenance and regulation of HSPCs. Hematological and other BM disorders disrupt hematopoiesis by affecting hematopoietic cells directly and/or through the alteration of the BM niche. Here, we describe a method to study hematopoiesis in health and malignancy through the phenotypic analysis of murine BM HSPCs and stromal niche populations by flow cytometry. Our method details the required steps to enrich BM cells in endosteal and central BM fractions, as well as the appropriate gating strategies to identify the two key niche cell types involved in HSPC regulation, endothelial cells and mesenchymal stem cells. The phenotypic analysis proposed here may be combined with mouse mutants, disease models, and functional assays to characterize the HSPC compartment and its niche.

Here, we describe a simple protocol for the isolation and staining of murine bone marrow cells to phenotype hemopoietic stem and progenitor cells along with the supporting niche endothelial and mesenchymal stem cells. A method to enrich cells located in endosteal and central bone marrow areas is also included.

The bone marrow (BM) is the soft tissue found within bones where hematopoiesis, the process by which new blood cells are generated, primarily occurs. As ...

Evidence for EpCAM and Cytokeratin Expressing Epithelial Cells in Normal Human and Murine Blood and Bone Marrow

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