Simultaneous Study of the Recruitment of Monocyte Subpopulations Under Flow In Vitro

Summary

Here, we present an integrated protocol that measures monocyte subpopulation trafficking under flow in vitro by use of specific surface markers and confocal fluorescence microscopy. This protocol can be used to explore sequential recruitment steps as well as to profile other leukocyte subtypes using other specific surface markers.

Abstract

The recruitment of monocytes from the blood to targeted peripheral tissues is critical to the inflammatory process during tissue injury, tumor development and autoimmune diseases. This is facilitated through a process of capture from free flow onto the luminal surface of activated endothelial cells, followed by their adhesion and transendothelial migration (transmigration) into the underlying affected tissue. However, the mechanisms that support the preferential and context-dependent recruitment of monocyte subpopulations are still not fully understood. Therefore, we have developed a method that allows the recruitment of different monocyte subpopulations to be simultaneously visualized and measured under flow. This method, based on time-lapse confocal imaging, allows for the unambiguous distinction between adherent and transmigrated monocytes. Here, we describe how this method can be used to simultaneously study the recruitment cascade of pro-angiogenic and non-angiogenic monocytes in vitro. Furthermore, this method can be extended to study the different steps of recruitment of up to three monocyte populations.

Introduction

Monocytes constitute a phagocytic component of innate immunity that is essential for fighting pathogens, cleaning up damaged tissues, angiogenesis, and the pathophysiology of many diseases including cancers^1,2,3. Monocytes are bone marrow-derived cells composed of heterogeneous subpopulations that circulate in the blood but can be recruited to the site of inflammation in peripheral tissue through specific molecular mechanisms. The recruitment cascades of monocytes, as for leukocytes in general, implicates different steps including capture, rolling, crawling, arrest, transendo....

Protocol

Human materials were used with the informed consent of volunteer donors and in accordance with the Swiss Ethics Committees on clinical research.

1. Isolation and Freezing of Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVEC)

1. Add 5 mL of coating solution to a T75 flask (0.1 mg/mL collagen G and 0.2% gelatin in phosphate buffered saline PBS at pH 7.4) for 30 min at 37 °C before initiating HUVEC isolation.
2. Clean the cord with PBS, wipe it with sterile compresses, and place .......

Discussion

Here, we report a method detailing a study of how monocyte subpopulations transmigrate through the inflamed endothelial monolayer. The discussed method used confocal microscopy instead of phase-contrast microscopy, which is also used to study monocyte recruitment under flow^3,11,19. One major advantage of using confocal microscopy for time-lapse imaging is the ability to unambiguously discriminate between transmigration and stron.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Tissue Culture Flasks 75 cm2	TPP	90076	Routine culture of isolated HUVEC
µ-Slide VI 0.4	IBIDI	80606
Centrifuge Tubes 15 mL	TPP	191015
Centrifuge Tubes 50 mL	TPP	191050
Collagen G	Biochrom	L 7213	For coating of cell culture flasks
Gelatin	Sigma-Aldrich	1393	For coating of cell culture flasks
Dulbecco’s Phosphate Buffered Saline (without MgCl2 and CaCl2)	Sigma-Aldrich	D8537
Dulbecco’s Phosphate Buffered Saline (with MgCl2 and CaCl2)	Sigma-Aldrich	D8662
RPMI-1640 Medium	Sigma-Aldrich	R8758
3-Way Stopcocks	BIO-RAD	7328103
penicillin 10000 u/ml streptomycine 10000 ug/ml fungizone 25 ug/ml	AMIMED	4-02F00-H
Collagenase type 1	Worthington	LS004216
Medium 199 1X avec Earle's salts, L-Glutamine, 25 mM Hepes	GIBCO	22340020
Bovine Albumin Fraction V	ThermoFisher	15260037
Endothelial Cell Growth Supplement, 150mg	Millipore	02-102
Heparin Sodium	Sigma-Aldrich	H3149RT
Hydrocortisone	Sigma-Aldrich	H6909
L-Ascorbic acid	Sigma-Aldrich	A 4544
EDTA disodium salt dihydrate C10H14N2Na2O8 · 2H2O	APPLICHEM	A2937.0500
CD144 (VE-Cadherin), human recombinant clone: REA199, FITC	Miltenyi Biotech	130-100-713	AB_2655150
CD31-PE antibody, human recombinant clone: REA730, PE	Miltenyi Biotech	130-110-807	AB_2657280
Anti-Podoplanin-APC, human recombinantclone: REA446, APC	Miltenyi Biotech	130-107-016	AB_2653263
BD Accuri C6 Plus	BD Bioscience
µ-Slide I Luer	IBIDI	80176
CMFDA (5-chloromethylfluorescein diacetate)	ThermoFisher	C2925
Recombinant human TNFα	Peprotech	300-01A
Recombinant human VEGFA	Peprotech	100-20
NE-1000 Programmable Syringe Pump	KF Technology	NE-1000
Ficoll Paque Plus	GE Healthcare	17-1440-02
Anti-human CD14-PE, human recombinant clone: REA599, PE	Miltenyi Biotech	130-110-519	AB_2655051
Pan Monocyte Isolation Kit, human	Miltenyi Biotech	130-096-537
Anti-human CD16-PE, human recombinant clone: REA423, PE	Miltenyi Biotech	130-106-762	AB_2655403
LS columns	Miltenyi Biotech	130-042-401
QuadroMACS Separator	Miltenyi Biotech	130-090-976
Hoechst 33342, Trihydrochloride, Trihydrate	ThermoFisher	H1399
Silicone tubing	IBIDI	10841
Elbow Luer Connector	IBIDI	10802
Female Luer Lock Coupler	IBIDI	10823
Luer Lock Connector Female	IBIDI	10825
In-line Luer Injection Port	IBIDI	10820
Ar1 confocal microscope	Nikon
40X objective	Nikon	40x 0.6 CFI ELWD S Plane Fluor WD:3.6-2.8mm correction 0-2mm
ImageJ Software	NIH