Name: light-sheet microscopy for three-dimensional visualization of human immune cells
Uploaded: 2018-06-13T13:30:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Light-sheet Microscopy for Three-dimensional Visualization of Human Immune Cells at JoVE.com

We thank the Institute for Clinical Hemostaseology and Transfusion Medicine for providing donor blood; Carmen H&#228;ssig and Cora Hoxha for excellent technical help. We thank Jens Rettig (Saarland University) for the modified pMAX vector, Roland Wedlich-S&#246;ldner (University of Muenster) for the original LifeAct-Ruby construct, and Christian Junker (Saarland University) for generating the LifeAct-mEGFP construct. This project was funded by Sonderforschungsbereich 1027 (project A2 to B.Q.) and 894 (project A1 to M.H.). The light-sheet microscope was funded by DFG (GZ: INST 256/4 19-1 FUGG).

Research carried out for this study with the human material (leukocyte reduction system chambers from human blood donors) is authorized by the local ethics committee (declaration from 16.4.2015 (84/15; Prof. Dr. Rettig-St&#252;rmer)) and follows the corresponding guidelines.
1. Preparation of Neutralized Collagen Solution (500 &#181;L)
<ol>
	<li>Transfer 400 &#181;L of chilled collagen stock solution (10.4 mg/mL) to a sterile 1.5 mL tube under the cell culture hood. Slowly add 50 &#181;L of ...

<ol>
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Most in vitro assays are carried out on a 2D surface, for example in cell-culture plates, Petri-dishes or on coverslips, whereas in vivo cells, especially immune cells, experience mostly a 3D microenvironment. Emerging evidence shows that migration patterns of immune cells differ between 2D and 3D scenarios17. Moreover, the expression profiles of tumor cells are also different in 2D- and 3D-cultured tissues18,19,</su...

Most knowledge about migrating cells comes from 2D experiments1,2,3, which are normally conducted in a glass or plastic surface of a culture/imaging dish. However, a physiological scenario requires, in most cases, a 3D microenvironment, in which the extracellular matrix (ECM) plays a decisive role. ECM not only provides the 3D structure essential to maintain proper cell morphology but also offers survival signals or directional cues for an optimal functioning of many cells4,5 . Therefore, a 3D environment is required to better identify cellular functions and behavior in an environment better reflecting the physiological context.
In the human body, most cells especially immune cells, exert their functions under a 3D scenario. For example, activated T cells patrol tissues searching for target cells, na&#239;ve T cells migrate through lymph nodes in search for their cognate antigen-presenting cells during which the migration mode and machinery are adapted to the corresponding extracellular environment3,6,7. The 3D collagen gel has been widely used as a well-established and well-characterized 3D cell culture system8,9,10. Our previous work shows that primary human lymphocytes are highly mobile and migrate at an average speed of around 4.8 &#181;m/min in a 0.25 % collagen-based matrix11. Rearrangement of cytoskeleton plays a key role in the cell migration12. Accumulating evidence shows that lymphocytes do not apply only a single mode of migration yet can switch between certain migration behavior depending on the location, microenvironment, cytokines, chemotactic gradients, and extracellular signals which tune the migratory behavior in different ways 3.
To reliably analyze immune cell functions and behavior, for example, migration, protrusion formation or vesicular transportation, it is of great advantage to be able to acquire images in relatively large 3D volumes in a fast and reliable manner. For 3D imaging, the recently developed light-sheet microscopy technology (also referred to as single plane illumination microscopy) offers a satisfactory solution13,14. During imaging acquisition, a thin static light sheet is generated to illuminate the sample. In this way, on the focus plane, a large area can be illuminated simultaneously without affecting the off-plane cells. This feature enables a high acquisition speed with a drastically reduced bleaching and photocytotoxicity. In this paper, we describe how to visualize primary human immune cells using light-sheet microscopy and how to analyze the migration in a 3D scenario.

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Fibricol, bovine collagen solution</td>
			<td>Advanced Biomatrix</td>
			<td>&#160;#5133-20ML</td>
			<td>Collagen matrix</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>0.5 M NaOH Solution</td>
			<td>Merck</td>
			<td>1091381000</td>
			<td>for neutralizing Fibricol solution</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ultra-Low melting agarose</td>
			<td>Affymetrix</td>
			<td>32821-10GM</td>
			<td>Sample preparation in low c[Col]</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Dynabeads Untouched Human CD8 T Cells Kit</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher</td>
			<td>11348D</td>
			<td>Isolation of primary human CD8+ T cells from PBMC</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Dynabeads Human T-Activator CD3/CD28 for T Cell Expansion and Activation</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher</td>
			<td>11132D</td>
			<td>Activation of CTL populations</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Human recombinant interleukin-2</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher</td>
			<td>PHC0023</td>
			<td>Stimulation of cultured CTL</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>P3 Primary solution kit</td>
			<td>Lonza</td>
			<td>V4XP-30XX</td>
			<td>Transfection</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>&#945;-PFN1 antibody, rabbit, IgG</td>
			<td>Abcam</td>
			<td>ab124904</td>
			<td>IF</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Alexa Fluor 633 Phalloidin</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher</td>
			<td>A22284</td>
			<td>IF</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>CellMask Orange Plasma membrane Stain</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher</td>
			<td>C10045</td>
			<td>Fluorescent cell label</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Tween 20</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>P1379-250mL</td>
			<td>IF</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Triton X-100</td>
			<td>Eurobio</td>
			<td>018774</td>
			<td>IF</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>DPBS Dulbecco&#39;s phopsphate buffered saline</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher</td>
			<td>14190250</td>
			<td>IF</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Bovine serum albumin</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>A9418-100G</td>
			<td>IF</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Goat &#945; Rabbit 568, IgG, rabbit</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher</td>
			<td>A-11011</td>
			<td>IF</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Lightsheet Z.1 (Light-sheet microscopy)</td>
			<td>Zeiss</td>
			<td>N.A.</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Cell culture hood</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher</td>
			<td>HeraSafe KS</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Cell culture incubator HERACell 150i&#160;</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher</td>
			<td>N.A.</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Centrifuge 5418 and 5452</td>
			<td>Eppendorf</td>
			<td>N.A.</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Pippettes</td>
			<td>Eppendorf</td>
			<td>3123000039, 3123000020, 3123000063</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Pippette tips</td>
			<td>VWR</td>
			<td>89079-444, 89079-436, 89079-452&#160;</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>15 mL tubes</td>
			<td>Sarstedt</td>
			<td>&#160;62.554.002</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Capillaries 50 &#181;L</td>
			<td>VWR (Brand)</td>
			<td>613-3373</td>
			<td>Zeiss LSFM sample preparation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Plunger for capillaries</td>
			<td>VWR (Brand)</td>
			<td>BRND701934</td>
			<td>&#34;Stamps with Teflon tip&#34; LSFM sample preparation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>MColorPhast pH stips</td>
			<td>Merck</td>
			<td>1095430001</td>
			<td>to test pH of neutralized Fibricol</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>BD Plastipak 1mL syringes</td>
			<td>BD</td>
			<td>Z230723&#160;ALDRICH</td>
			<td>Alternative sample preparation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Modeling clay (Hasbro Play-Doh A5417EU7)</td>
			<td>Play-Doh</td>
			<td>N.A.</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Imaris file converter</td>
			<td>Bitplane</td>
			<td>available at http://www.bitplane.com&#160;</td>
			<td>Convert imaging files to Imaris file format</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Imaris 8.1.2 (MeasurementPro, Track, Vantage)</td>
			<td>Bitplane</td>
			<td>available at http://www.bitplane.com&#160;</td>
			<td>Analysis of 3D and 4D imaging data</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

light-sheet microscopy for three-dimensional visualization of human immune cells

In vivo, activation, proliferation, and function of immune cells all occur in a three-dimensional (3D) environment, for instance in lymph nodes or tissues. Up to date, most in vitro systems rely on two-dimensional (2D) surfaces, such as cell-culture plates or coverslips. To optimally mimic physiological conditions in vitro, we utilize a simple 3D collagen matrix. Collagen is one of the major components of extracellular matrix (ECM) and has been widely used to constitute 3D matrices. For 3D imaging, the recently developed light-sheet microscopy technology (also referred to as single plane illumination microscopy) is featured with high acquisition speed, large penetration depth, low bleaching, and photocytotoxicity. Furthermore, light-sheet microscopy is particularly advantageous for long-term measurement. Here we describe an optimized protocol how to set up and handle human immune cells, e.g. primary human cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) and natural killer (NK) cells in the 3D collagen matrix for usage with the light-sheet microscopy for live cell imaging and fixed samples. The procedure for image acquisition and analysis of cell migration are presented. A particular focus is given to highlight critical steps and factors for sample preparation and data analysis. This protocol can be employed for other types of suspension cells in a 3D collagen matrix and is not limited to immune cells.

Protrusion formation during T cell migration is a highly dynamic process, which is actin dependent. To visualize protrusion formation of primary human CTL, we transiently transfected a mEGFP fused protein to label the actin cytoskeleton in CTL as described before11. One day after transfection, the cells were embedded in the collagen matrix. Image stacks were acquired every 40 s with a step-size of 1 &#181;m at 37 &#176;C using light-sheet microscopy. As shown in <s...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Light-sheet Microscopy for Three-dimensional Visualization of Human Immune Cells at JoVE.com

Light-sheet Microscopy for Three-dimensional Visualization of Human Immune Cells

Here, we present a protocol to visualize immune cells embedded in a three-dimensional (3D) collagen matrix using light-sheet microscopy. This protocol also elaborates how to track cell migration in 3D. This protocol can be employed for other types of suspension cells in the 3D matrix.

In vivo, activation, proliferation, and function of immune cells all occur in a three-dimensional (3D) environment, for instance in lymph nodes or ...

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