Quantification of Proliferative and Dead Cells in Enteroids

Summary

The presented protocol uses flow cytometry to quantify the number of proliferating and dead cells in cultured mouse enteroids. This method is helpful to evaluate the effects of drug treatment on organoid proliferation and survival.

Abstract

The intestinal epithelium acts as a barrier that prevents luminal contents, such as pathogenic microbiota and toxins, from entering the rest of the body. Epithelial barrier function requires the integrity of intestinal epithelial cells. While epithelial cell proliferation maintains a continuous layer of cells that forms a barrier, epithelial damage leads to barrier dysfunction. As a result, luminal contents can across the intestinal barrier via an unrestricted pathway. Dysfunction of intestinal barrier has been associated with many intestinal diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease. Isolated mouse intestinal crypts can be cultured and maintained as crypt-villus-like structures, which are termed intestinal organoids or “enteroids”. Enteroids are ideal to study the proliferation and cell death of intestinal epithelial cells in vitro. In this protocol, we describe a simple method to quantify the number of proliferative and dead cells in cultured enteroids. 5-ethynyl-2’-deoxyuridine (EdU) and propidium iodide are used to label proliferating and dead cells in enteroids, and the proportion of proliferating and dead cells are then analyzed by flow cytometry. This is a useful tool to test the effects of drug treatment on intestinal epithelial cell proliferation and cell survival.

Introduction

A fundamental function of intestinal epithelial cells is to protect the entry of luminal contents such as pathogenic bacteria and toxins^1,2. To perform such a function, intestinal stem cells continuously proliferate and differentiate into a variety of epithelial cells, including enterocytes and secretory cells, which form a barrier by forming tight connections³. The rapid renewal of intestinal epithelial cells requires strict coordination of cell proliferation, cell differentiation, and cell death^4,5. Reduced cell proliferation ....

Protocol

This protocol was approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee of Cambridge-Suda Genomic Resource Center (CAM-SU) at Soochow University.

1. Intestinal Organoid Isolation and Culture

1. Isolation of intestinal crypts and enteroid culture
   1. Euthanize an 8-week-old wild-type mouse with CO₂ inhalation. Use tissue forceps and fine iris scissors to dissect out approximately 8 cm of ileum.
   2. Flush out using a syringe with gavage feeding needle with about 40 mL .......

Discussion

This protocol details the steps necessary for the culture of enteroids in vitro and quantification of EdU- and PI-positive cells in the enteroids by flow cytometry. There are several advantages of this strategy. First, EdU labelling is used to detect proliferating cells in enteroids. Compared with traditional BrdU assay, EdU labelling method is faster, more sensitive, and more accurate. EdU is very similar to thymine (T), which replaces thymine in DNA synthesis during cell division. Compared to the BrdU antibody, EdU is .......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
15 ml centrifuge tube	Corning	430791
22 G gavage needle	VWR	20068-608
24-well plate	Nunc	142475
40 mm sterile cell strainer	BD	352340
50 ml centrifuge tube	Corning	430829
70 mm sterile cell strainer	BD	352350
Advanced DMEM/F-12	GIBCO	12634010
Attune NxT Acoustic Focusing Cytometer	Invitrogen	A24863
B-27 Supplement	GIBCO	17504044
Buffer 1			2 mM EDTA in DPBS
Buffer 2			54.9 mM D-sorbitol, 43.4 mM sucrose in DPBS
C57/B6 mice	Nanjing Biomedical Research Institute of Nanjing University
Cell-dissociation enzymes (TrypLE)	Life technologies	12605-010
Centrifuge	Eppendorf	5424
Centrifuge	Eppendorf	5424R
Centrifuge	Eppendorf	5810R
Click-iT Plus EdU Alexa Fluor 594 Imaging Kit	Life technologies	C10639
CO2 incubator	Panasonic	MCO-18AC
DPBS	GIBCO	14190144
D-sorbitol	BBI	SB0491
EDTA	BBI	EB0185
ENR media			Minigut media, 50 ng/ml EGF, 100 ng/ml Noggin, 500 ng/ml R-spondin
Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS)	Gibco	10270-106
Fine Iris Scissors	Tansoole	2037454
Fluorescence microscope	Olympus	FV1000
GlutaMAX Supplement	GIBCO	35050-061
Goat Serum	Life technologies	16210-064
HDMEM	Hyclone	SH30243.01B
HEPES	Sigma	H4034
Matrigel	Corning	356231
Minigut media			Advanced DMEM/F12, 2 mM Glutamax, Penn/Strep (100 units/ml), 10 mM Hepes, N2 supplement (1:100), B27 supplement (1:50)
N2 supplement	R&D	AR009
Nonionic surfactant (Triton X)	BBI	TB0198-500ML
Operating Scissor (12.5 cm)	Tansoole	2025785
Paraformaldehyde (PFA)	sigma	158127-500g
Penn/Strep	Invitrogen	15140-148
Phase contrast microscope	Nikon	TS1000
Propidium iodide	Sigma	P4170-25MG
Recombinant EGF	PeproTech	315-09
Recombinant Mouse Noggin	PeproTech	250-38
Recombinant Mouse R-Spondin 1	R&D	3474-RS-050
Recombinant Murine IL-22	PeproTech	210-22-10
Sucrose	BBI	SB0498
Tissue Forceps	Tansoole	2026704
Y-27632 2HC1	Selleck	S1049