Femur Window Chamber Model for In Vivo Cell Tracking in the Murine Bone Marrow

Summary

The protocol describes a novel murine femur window chamber model that can be used to track movement of cells in the femoral bone marrow in vivo. Intravital multiphoton fluorescence microscopy is used to image three components of the femoral bone marrow (vasculature, collagen matrix, and neutrophils) over time.

Abstract

Bone marrow is a complex organ that contains various hematopoietic and non-hematopoietic cells. These cells are involved in many biological processes, including hematopoiesis, immune regulation and tumor regulation. Commonly used methods for understanding cellular actions in the bone marrow, such as histology and blood counts, provide static information rather than capturing the dynamic action of multiple cellular components in vivo. To complement the standard methods, a window chamber (WC)-based model was developed to enable serial in vivo imaging of cells and structures in the murine bone marrow. This protocol describes a surgical procedure for installing the WC in the femur, in order to facilitate long-term optical access to the femoral bone marrow. In particular, to demonstrate its experimental utility, this WC approach was used to image and track neutrophils within the vascular network of the femur, thereby providing a novel method to visualize and quantify immune cell trafficking and regulation in the bone marrow. This method can be applied to study various biological processes in the murine bone marrow, such as hematopoiesis, stem cell transplantation, and immune responses in pathological conditions, including cancer.

Introduction

Bone marrow is an important organ involved in hematopoiesis and immune regulation. It consists of a hematopoietic component containing hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs), and a stromal component containing non-hematopoietic progenitor cells that give rise to mesenchymal cells¹. Two-thirds of hematopoietic activity is dedicated to the generation of myeloid cells². In particular, a large number of neutrophils are produced in the bone marrow, with 1-2 x 10¹¹ cells generated per day in a normal adult human². Neutrophils are the first line of defense against microbial infections and are mostly reserved in the bone ma....

Protocol

NOTE: All animal work was carried out under protocol #2615 approved by the University Health Network Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.

1. Surgical Preparation of Mouse

1. Prior to surgery, sterilize all surgical instruments and the window chamber (WC) by autoclaving. Supplement the drinking water with 50 mg/kg body weight of amoxicillin 2 days prior to surgery. Inject the mouse with 0.1 mg/kg body weight of buprenorphine intraperitoneally 4 hr prior to surgery.
2. Anesthetize the athymic nude mouse by intraperitoneal injection of 350-400 μl saline solution containing 80 mg/kg ketamine and 13 mg/kg xylazine (Note: This was ap....

Results

Murine femoral bone marrow is successfully accessed using the WC to enable visualization of individual neutrophils and vascular networks. Figure 1 shows the WC instrument and describes the surgical procedure, which involves exposure of the femoral bone and thinning of cortical bone to gain optical access inside the bone. The surgery is well-tolerated in mice; they were assessed for adverse physical reactions, such as hind limb swelling, non-weight bearing on limb, self-mu.......

Discussion

Real-time, serial imaging of the dynamic cellular processes in bone marrow provides information that is otherwise challenging to obtain using conventional techniques such as histology and total blood counts. The femur WC model described here provides unique opportunities to investigate cellular and structural alterations in the bone marrow over time. Although a femur WC model has been previously reported, our novel design provides a larger imaging field of view and smaller overall WC size, which are more compatible for u.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
NRCNU-F athymic nude mice	Taconic	Ncr nude	8-10 weeks old, female
Saline	Baxter	JB1302P
Ketamine hydrochloride	Bioniche Animal Health Canada, Inc.	DIN 01989529
Xylazine	Bayer HealthCare, Bayer Inc.	DIN 02169592
Surgical drape	Proxima	DYNJP2405
Electric heating pad	Life Brand	57800827375
Stereomicroscope	Leica	Leica M60
Eye ointment (tear gel)	Novartis	T296/2
7.5% betadine	Purdue Frederick Co	67618-151-16
70% isopropyl alcohol	GreenField	P010IP7P
10% betadine	Purdue Frederick Co	67618-150-05
Scalpel handle (#3)	Fine Science Tools	10003-12
Scalpel blade (#15)	VWR	89176-368
Spring Scissors curved	Fine science Tools	15023-10
Baby-Mixter Hemostat	Fine science Tools	13013-14
Fine Scissors	Fine science Tools	14094-11
Extra Fine Graefe Forceps	Fine science Tools	11151-10
Halsted-Mosquito Hemostats	Fine science Tools	13008-12
Micro-drill	Harvard Apparaus	72-6065
Micro-drill burrs	Fine Science Tools	19007-14
Femur window chamber	PMCC machine shop	custom design	9.1mm- 8.5mm- 7.5 mm (outer to inner diameter), 2.16 mm (radius of two holes), 13.9mm (distance between two holes), 0.7mm (thickness)
U-shaped bar	PMCC machine shop	custom design	13.8mm (length), 1.6 mm (width), 3.7mm (height)
Coverglass (8mm)	Warner Instruments	HBIO 64-0701 CS-8R
Retaining ring (8mm)	ACKLANDS GRAINGER	UNSPSC # 31163202
Nuts (hexagon stainless steel)	Fastenal	70701
Dental cement	3M	RelyX U200
Suture (5-0 Monosof black)	Covioien	SN-5698
Halsey needle holder	Fine Science Tools	12501-13
Buprenorphine (Temgesic)	Reckitt Benckiser	DIN 0281251
Meloxicam (Metacam)	Boehringer Ingelheim	DIN 02240463
Amoxicillin (Clamavox)	Pfizer	DIN 02027879
FITC-Dextran	Sigma-Aldrich	FD2000S
APC- Anti-Mouse Ly-6G (Gr-1)	eBioscience	17-9668
Two-photon microscope LSM 710	Carl Zeiss	Zeiss LSM 710 NLO
Imaging stage	PMCC machine shop	custom design	15.9cm (length), 11cm (width), 0,9cm (height)
Imaris software	Bitplane	Imaris 8.0	Image analysis software described in Section 3 of the Protocol
Zen 2012	Zeiss	Zen 2012	Image acqusition software described in Section 2 of the Protocol