Monitoring Astrocyte Reactivity and Proliferation in Vitro Under Ischemic-Like Conditions

Summary

Ischemic stroke is a complex event in which the specific contribution of astrocytes to the affected brain region exposed to oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD) is difficult to study. This article introduces a methodology to obtain isolated astrocytes and study their reactivity and proliferation under OGD conditions.

Abstract

Ischemic stroke is a complex brain injury caused by a thrombus or embolus obstructing blood flow to parts of the brain. This leads to deprivation of oxygen and glucose, which causes energy failure and neuronal death. After an ischemic stroke insult, astrocytes become reactive and proliferate around the injury site as it develops. Under this scenario, it is difficult to study the specific contribution of astrocytes to the brain region exposed to ischemia. Therefore, this article introduces a methodology to study primary astrocyte reactivity and proliferation under an in vitro model of an ischemia-like environment, called oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD). Astrocytes were isolated from 1-4 day-old neonatal rats and the number of non-specific astrocytic cells was assessed using astrocyte selective marker Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein (GFAP) and nuclear staining. The period in which astrocytes are subjected to the OGD condition can be customized, as well as the percentage of oxygen they are exposed to. This flexibility allows scientists to characterize the duration of the ischemic-like condition in different groups of cells in vitro. This article discusses the timeframes of OGD that induce astrocyte reactivity, hypertrophic morphology, and proliferation as measured by immunofluorescence using Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen (PCNA). Besides proliferation, astrocytes undergo energy and oxidative stress, and respond to OGD by releasing soluble factors into the cell medium. This medium can be collected and used to analyze the effects of molecules released by astrocytes in primary neuronal cultures without cell-to-cell interaction. In summary, this primary cell culture model can be efficiently used to understand the role of isolated astrocytes upon injury.

Introduction

Stroke is defined as "an acute neurological dysfunction of vascular origin with either sudden or rapid development of symptoms and signs, corresponding to the involvement of focal areas in the brain"^1,2. There are two types of stroke: hemorrhagic and ischemic. When vascular dysfunction is caused either by an aneurysm or an arteriovenous malfunction, accompanied by weakening with posterior rupture of an artery, this is termed hemorrhagic stroke³ which, in most cases, leads to death. When a thrombus or an embolus obstructs blood flow, causing a temporary deprivation of oxygen....

Protocol

Postnatal rats (Sprague Dawley) 1-4 days old are used to isolate cortices. The method of euthanasia is decapitation, as approved by NIH guidelines.

1. Preparation of Instruments and Materials for Surgery

1. Sterilize instruments in an autoclave (temperature: 121 ºC, pressure: 15 psi, time: 30 mins) using a steel box or an instant sealing sterilization pouch. See materials in Table of Materials.

2. Complete DMEM Preparation

1. In a one liter beaker containing 700 mL autoclaved water, add Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium powder at room temperature.
2. ....

Results

One of the main concerns of primary astrocytic culture is the presence of other cells such as neurons, oligodendrocytes, fibroblasts, and microglia. In Figure 1, isolated cells from rat cortices had media changes every 3 days and were either untreated or treated with added LME for 1 h. 24 h later, cells were immunostained for GFAP and counterstained with DAPI. Untreated cells showed an average of 39% non-GFAP positive cells, while LME-treated cells showed 8%........

Discussion

This protocol describes the isolation of astrocytes from rat cortices. In this method, it is critical to decrease contamination with other cellular types such as microglia, oligodendrocytes, and fibroblasts. To reduce the number of microglia, several steps can be taken: changing the media, orbital shaking, and chemical treatments. Once culture purity is confirmed by immunofluorescence using selective cellular markers or for the most prominent cell contaminants, experiments can be performed. For instance, antibody against.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Instruments for Surgery - Step 1
Operating scissor 5.5”	Roboz Company	RS-6812	Tools used to decapitate the rats.
Curved forceps 7”	Roboz Company	RS-5271	Holds the skin of the rat while the skull is removed.
Micro-dissecting scissors 4”	Roboz Company	RS-5882	Cuts both the skin and skull of the rat.
Micro-dissecting forceps 4” angled, fine sharp	Roboz Company	RS-5095	Holds the skin of the rat while the skull is removed.
Micro-dissecting forceps 4” slightly curved 0.8	Roboz Company	RS-5135	Tool used to separate cortices.
Micro-dissecting tweezers	Roboz Company	RS-4972	Peels brain meninges.
Dissection microscope	Olympus	SZX16	Important for removing the meninge from the cortices.
DMEM Preparation - step 2
Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Medium (DMEM)	GibCo. Company	11995-065	Supports the growth of cells.
Sodium bicarbonate	Sigma-Aldrich Company	S7277	Supplement for the cell culture media.
Fetal bovine serum (FBS)	GibCo. Company	10437-010	Serum-supplement for the cell culture.
Penicillin-Streptomycin	GibCo. Company	15140-148	Inhibits the growth of bacterias in the cell culture.
Filter System 1L with 0.22um pore	Corning	431098
Astrocyte culture - step 3
Serological pipets 5mL	VWR	89130-896	To pipette DMEM to containers with cells.
Serological pipets 10mL	VWR	89130-898	To pipette DMEM to containers with cells.
Serological pipets 25mL	VWR	89130-900	To pipette DMEM to containers with cells.
Centrifuge conical tube 15mL	Santa Cruz Biotechnology	sc-200250
Safe-lock tube 1.5mL	Eppendorf	022363204
Barrier Tips 200 uL	Santa Cruz Biotechnology	sc-201725
Barrier Tips 1 mL	Santa Cruz Biotechnology	sc-201727
Biohazard Orange Bag 14 x 19"	VWR	14220-048
60mm petri dishes	Falcon	351007
Sterile gauze pads	Honeywell Safety	89133-086
Stomacher 80 Biomaster	Sewar Lab System	030010019	Triturate the brain tissue.
Stomacher 80 Blender Sterile Bags	Sewar Lab System	BA6040	Sterile bag for the stomacher cell homogenizer.
Beaker 400mL	Pyrex	1000
Sterile cell dissociation sieve, mesh #60	Sigma-Aldrich Company	S1020	To obtain a uniform single cell suspension.
Sterile cell dissociation sieve, mesh #100	Sigma-Aldrich Company	S3895	To obtain a uniform single cell suspension.
Invert phase microscope	Nikon	Eclypse Ti-S	Verify cells for contamination or abnormal cell growth.
75cm2 sterile flasks	Falcon	353136
Multi-well plate	Falcon	353046
Micro cover glasses (coverslips), 18mm, round	VWR	48380-046
Bright-Line hemacytometer	Sigma-Aldrich Company	Z359629
Pasteur pipettes	Fisher Scientific	13-678-20D
Ethyl alcohol	Sigma-Aldrich Company	E7023
L-leucine methyl ester hydrochloride 98% (LME)	Sigma-Aldrich Company	L1002	Promotes the elimination of microglia cells in the primary cortical astrocyte cultutre.
Cytosine β-D-arabinofuranoside (Ara-C)	Sigma-Aldrich Company	C1768
Poly-D-Lysine Hydrobromide, mol wt 70,000-150,000	Sigma-Aldrich Company	P0899
Trypsin/EDTA	GibCo. Company	15400-054
Trypan Blue	Sigma-Aldrich Company	T8154
Phosphate buffer saline (PBS) tablets	Calbiochem	524650
Sterile Water	Sigma-Aldrich Company	W3500
OGD Medium Preparation - step 5
Centrifuge conical tube 50 mL	VWR	89039-658
Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium-free glucose	Sigma-Aldrich Company	D5030	Supports the growth of cells.
Sodium bicarbonate	Sigma-Aldrich Company	S7277	Supplement for the cell culture media.
Penicillin-Streptomycin	GibCo. Company	15140-148	Inhibits the growth of bacterias in the cell culture.
200mM  L-glutamine	GibCo. Company	25030-081	Amino acid that supplements the growth of cells.
Phospahet buffer saline (PBS) tablets	Calbiochem	524650
Filter System 50mL with 0.22um pore	Corning	430320
Centrifuge conical tube 50 mL	VWR	89039-658
Single Flow Meter	Billups-Rothenberg	SMF3001	Measure gas flow in oxygen purge.
Hypoxia Incubator Chamber	StemCell	27310	Generates a hypoxic environment for the cell culture.
Traceable Dissolved Oxygen Meter	VWR	21800-022
95% N2/ 5% CO2 Gas Mixture	Linde		Purges the environment of oxygen.
primary astrocyte immunofluorescence - step 6
Phosphate buffer saline (PBS) tablets	Calbiochem	524650
Formaline Solution Neutral Buffer 10%	Sigma-Aldrich	HT501128	Solution used to fix cells.
Methanol	Fisher	A4544	Solution used to fix cells.
Non-ionic surfactant (Triton X-100)	Sigma-Aldrich	T8787
Fetal bovine serum (FBS)	GibCo. Company	10437-010	Serum-supplement for the cell culture.
Anti-NeuN	Cell Signaling	24307	Detects mature neurons, serves to validate the astrocytic culture.
Anti-PCNA	Cell Signaling	2586	Detects proliferating cells.
Propidium Iodide (PI)	Sigma-Aldrich Company	P4170	Apoptosis staining.
Anti-Olig1	Abcam	AB68105	Detects mature oligodendrocytes.
Anti-Iba1+	Wako	016-20001	Detects microglial cells.
Anti-GFAP Conjugated with Cy3	Sigma-Aldrich Company	C9205	Detects reactive astrocytes in the treated cells.
Alexa Fluor 488	Molecular Probe Life Technology	A1101	Anti-Mouse Secondary Antibody
Alexa Fluor 555	Molecular Probe Life Technology	A21428	Anti-Rabbit Secondary Antibody
4’,6’-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI)	Sigma-Aldrich Company	D9542	Nuclear staining
Confocal microscope	Olympus