Identifying Cell Surface Markers of Primary Neural Stem and Progenitor Cells by Metabolic Labeling of Sialoglycan

Summary

Presented here is a protocol that combines an in vitro neural-endothelial co-culture system and metabolic incorporation of sialoglycan with bioorthogonal functional groups to expand primary neural stem and progenitor cells and label their surface sialoglycoproteins for imaging or mass-spectrometry analysis of cell surface markers.

Abstract

Neural stem and progenitor cells (NSPCs) are the cellular basis for the complex structures and functions of the brain. They are located in specialized niches in vivo and can be isolated and expanded in vitro, serving as an important resource for cell transplantation to repair brain damage. However, NSPCs are heterogeneous and not clearly defined at the molecular level or purified due to a lack of specific cell surface markers. The protocol presented, which has been previously reported, combines a neural-endothelial co-culture system with a metabolic glycan labeling method to identify the surface sialoglycoproteome of primary NSPCs. The NSPC-endothelial co-culture system allows self-renewal and expansion of primary NSPCs in vitro, generating a sufficient number of NSPCs. Sialoglycans in cultured NSPCs are labeled using an unnatural sialic acid metabolic reporter with bioorthogonal functional groups. By comparing the sialoglycoproteome from self-renewing NSPCs expanded in an endothelial co-culture with differentiating neural culture, we identify a list of membrane proteins that are enriched in NSPCs. In detail, the protocol involves: 1) set-up of an NSPC-endothelial co-culture and NSPC differentiating culture; 2) labeling with azidosugar per-O-acetylated N-azidoacetylmannosamine (Ac₄ManNAz); and 3) biotin conjugation to modified sialoglycan for imaging after fixation of neural culture or protein extraction from neural culture for mass spectrometry analysis. Then, the NSPC-enriched surface marker candidates are selected by comparative analysis of mass spectrometry data from both the expanded NSPC and differentiated neural cultures. This protocol is highly sensitive for identifying membrane proteins of low abundance in the starting materials, and it can be applied to marker discovery in other systems with appropriate modifications

Introduction

Neural stem cells are defined as a multipotent cell population that can self-renew to maintain a stem cell pool and differentiate into neurons and glia. They are the major cell types in the nervous system and may offer great therapeutic potential in regenerative medicine through cell transplantation into diseased and injured brains^1,2. As development proceeds, the neural stem cell population becomes heterogenous^3,4, and the proportion of neural stem cells in the brain gradually decreases⁵. Generally speaking, embryonic neur....

Protocol

​All animal protocols used in this study were approved by the IACUC (Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee) of Tsinghua University and performed in accordance with guidelines of the IACUC. The laboratory animal facility at Tsinghua University has been accredited by the AAALAC (Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International). For staging of embryos, mid-day of the vaginal plug identified was calculated as embryonic day 0.5 (E0.5).

NOTE: .......

Discussion

Surface markers are commonly used to label and purify specific cell types in vitro and in vivo^17,18. Discovery of surface markers contributes greatly to regenerative medicine and stem cell researches by providing molecular tools to selectively enrich a stem cell population from normal or pathological tissues and culture dishes, offering a purified cell resource for clinical use or study of biological properties. However, progress in developing surface markers for.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
BEND3	ATCC	CRL-229
DMEM	Gibco	11960044
L-glutamine	Gibco	25030081	1%
Sodium pyruvate	Sigma	P5280	1%
N2 supplement	Gibco	17502048	1 to 100
N-acetyl-L-cysteine	Sigma	A7250	1 mM
Papain	Worthington	LS003726	10 U/mL
B27 supplement	Gibco	17504044	1 to 50
Poly-L-lysine	Sigma	P4707
basic Fibroblast growth factor	Gibco	PHG0261	10 ng/mL
Penicillin-Streptomycin	Gibco	15140122	1%
Fetal bovine serum	Gibco	10099141	10%
HBSS	Gibco	14175095
Tripsin-EDTA, 0.25%	Gibco	25200056
DPBS	Gibco	14190094
Transwell	Corning	3450
Paraformaldehyde	Sigma	158127	4%
Sucrose	Sangon	A100335
DAPI	Gibco	62248
RIPA buffer	Thermo Scientific	89900
SDS-PAGE loading buffer 2X	Solarbio	P1018
6-well plate	Corning	3335
Tris-Glycine protein gel	invitrogen	xp00100box
mouse monoclonal anti-Nestin	Developmental Study Hybridoma Bank	Rat-401	1 to 20
mouse monoclonal anti-beta-tubulin III	Sigma	T8860	1 to 1000
Alexa Fluor 488 goat anti-mouse IgG1	invitrogen	A-21121	1 to 1000
Alexa Fluor 546 goat anti-mouse IgG2b	invitrogen	A-21143	1 to 1000
Albumin Bovine V	Amresco	0332
Triton X-100	Amresco	0694
BCA assay kit	Thermo Scientific	23225
dimethyl sulfoxide	Sigma	D2650
Brij97	Aladdin	B129088
CuSO4	Sigma	209198
alkyne-biotin	Click Chemistry Tools	TA105
BTTAA	Click Chemistry Tools	1236
Ac4ManNAz	Click Chemistry Tools	1084	100 µM
9AzSia	synthesized in lab
sodium ascorbate	Sigma	A4034
Methanol	Sigma	34860
EDTA	Sangon	A100322
NaCl	Sangon	A100241
SDS	Sangon	A100227
Alexa Flour 647-conjugated streptavidin	invitrogen	S21374	1 to 1000
Triethanolamine	Sigma	V900257
Dynabeads M-280 Streptavidin	invitrogen	60210
ammonium bicarbonate	Sigma	9830
Coomassie Brilliant Blue R-250	Thermo Scientific	20278
Isoflurane	RWD Life Science Co.	970-00026-00
DNase I	Sigma	DN25	12 µg/mL
urea	Sigma	U5378