Establishment and Genetic Manipulation of Murine Hepatocyte Organoids

Summary

A long-term ex vitro 3D organoid culture system was established from mouse hepatocytes. These organoids can be passaged and genetically manipulated by lentivirus infection of shRNA/ectopic construction, siRNA transfection and CRISPR-Cas9 engineering.

Abstract

The liver is the largest organ in mammals. It plays an important role in glucose storage, protein secretion, metabolism and detoxification. As the executor for most of the liver functions, primary hepatocytes have limited proliferating capacity. This requires the establishment of ex vivo hepatocyte expansion models for liver physiological and pathological research. Here, we isolated murine hepatocytes by two steps of collagenase perfusion and established a 3D organoid culture as the 'mini-liver' to recapitulate cell-cell interactions and physical functions. The organoids consist of heterogeneous cell populations including progenitors and mature hepatocytes. We introduce the process in detailed to isolate and culture the murine hepatocytes or fetal hepatocyte to form organoids within 2-3 weeks and show how to passage them by mechanically pipetting up and down. In addition, we will also introduce how to digest the organoids into single cells for lentivirus infection of shRNA/ectopic construction, siRNA transfection and CRISPR-Cas9 engineering. The organoids can be used for drug screens, disease modelling, and basic liver research by modeling liver biology and pathobiology.

Introduction

Organoids are self-organized, three-dimensional (3D) in vitro clusters that include self-renewing stem cells and multi-lineage differentiated cells^1,2. The organoids of many organs have been established either from pluripotent or adult stem cells by well-defined niche factors including the intestine, the brain, the colon, the kidney, the liver, the pancreas, the thyroid, the stomach, the skin, and the lung^3,4,5,6,7. Th....

Protocol

All mice experiments were approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee of the School of Basic Medical Sciences at Shandong University and were carried out according to the License under Home Office guidelines and regulations (No. ECSBMSSDU2019-2-079).

NOTE: This protocol is mainly used to culture 3D organoids from isolated primary hepatocytes.

1. Establishment of Murine Hepatocyte Organoid Culture

NOTE: Extracellular matrix such as Matrige.......

Discussion

The ability to culture mature hepatocytes over long periods is fundamental in studying liver basic science, drug toxicology and hepatotropic host-microbiology infections such as malaria and the hepatitis viruses. With a well-defined niche, the protocol here sets up a culture system for hepatocytes. This protocol drives mature hepatocytes to expand in 3D culture with a heterogeneity that recapitulates cell-cell interaction, most hepatocyte function and genetic modifications, allowing the design of gene function studies an.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Perfusion Buffer
EGTA	Sangon Bitech	A600077-0100	3.50 g/L
Glucose	Sangon Bitech	A100188-0500	9.00 g/L
KCl	Sangon Bitech	A100395-0500	4.00 g/L
Na2HPO4·12H2O	Sangon Bitech	A501727-0500	1.51 g/L
NaCl	Sangon Bitech	A501218-0001	80.0 g/L
NaH2PO4·2H2O	Sangon Bitech	A610404-0500	0.78 g/L
NaHCO3	Sangon Bitech	A500873-0500	3.50 g/L
Phenol Red	Sangon Bitech	A100882-0025	0.06 g/L
Digestion Buffer
CaCl2	Sangon Bitech	A501330-0005	0.50 M
Collagenase IV	Sigma	C1639	0.10 mg/mL
HEPES	Sangon Bitech	C621110-0010	23.80 g/L
KCl	Sangon Bitech	A100395-0500	4.00 g/L
Na2HPO4·12H2O	Sangon Bitech	A501727-0500	1.51 g/L
NaCl	Sangon Bitech	A501218-0001	80.0 g/L
NaH2PO4·2H2O	Sangon Bitech	A610404-0500	0.78 g/L
NaHCO3	Sangon Bitech	A500873-0500	3.50 g/L
Tip-wash Buffer
Fetal Bovine Serum	Gibco	10091148	stored at 4 °C
DPBS	Gibco	C14190500BT0	stored at 4 °C
Wash Medium
Advanced DMEM/F12	Invitrogen	12634-010	stored at 4 °C
GlutaMAX	Gibco	35050-061	100 X
HEPES	Gibco	15630-080	100 X
Penicillin/streptomycin	Sangon Bitech	A600135-0025	100 X
Culture Medium
A83-01	Tocris	2939	Stock concentration 500 µM, final concentration 2 µM
Advanced DMEM/F12	Invitrogen	12634-010	stored at 4 °C
B-27 supplement 50x, minus vitamin A	Gibco	1704-044	50 X
Chir 99021	Tocris	4423	Stock concentration 30 mM, final concentration 3 µM
DMEM/F12	Gibco	11330032	stored at 4 °C
Gastrin I	Tocris	3006	Stock concentration 100 mM, final concentration 10 nM
GlutaMAX	Gibco	35050-061	100 X
HEPES	Gibco	15630-080	100 X
Matrigel martix	BD	356231	stored at -20 °C
N-acetylcysteine	Sigma Aldrich	A9165	Stock concentration 500 mM, final concentration 1 mM
Nictinamide	Sigma Aldrich	N0636	Stock concentration 1 M, final concentration 3 mM
Penicillin/streptomycin	Sangon Bitech	A600135-0025	100 X
Recombinant human EGF	Peprotech	AF-100-15	Stock concentration 100 µg/ml,final concentration 50 ng/ml
Recombinant human FGF10	Peprotech	100-26	Stock concentration 100 µg/ml, final concentration 100 ng/ml
Recombinant human HGF	Peprotech	100-39	Stock concentration 100 µg/ml, final concentration 25 ng/ml
Recombinant Human TGF-α	Peprotech	100-16A	Stock concentration 100 µg/ml, final concentration 100 ng/ml
Recombinant Human TNF-α	Origene	TP750007-1000	Stock concentration 100 µg/ml, final concentration 100 ng/ml
Rho kinase inhibitor Y-27632	Abmole Bioscience	Y-27632 dihydrochloride	Stock concentration 10 mM, final concentration 10 µM
Rspondin-1conditioned medium			Stable cell line generated in the Hu Lab. Final concentration 15%.
Others
0.22 µm filter	Millipore	SCGPT01RE
16 # silicone tube	LangerPump
24 well, suspension	Greiner bio-one	GN662102-100EA
37 °C Water Bath
70 µm filter	BD	352350
Accutase	stemcell	AT-104	stored at 4 °C
Anti-CTNNB1	BD	610154	Mouse
Anti-GAPDH	CST	5174S	Rabbit
Anti-HDAC7	Abcam	ab50212	Mouse
Anti-KI67	Abcam	ab15580	Rabbit
Biological safety cabinet	ESCO	CCL-170B-8
Cell Recovery Solution	Corning	354253	stored at 4 °C
Centrifuge 5430	eppendorf	542700097
CO2 incubator	ESCO	AC2-4S1
DMSO	Sangon Bitech	A100231	stored at RT
EVOS FL Color Imaging Systems	Invitrogen	AME4300
Hdac3 siRNA	Guangzhou RiboBio Co., Ltd.	siG2003180909192555	stored at -20 °C
Hdac7 lentivirus	ShanghaiGenePharmaCo.,Ltd	LV2020-2364	stored at -80 °C
Hitrans G A	Shanghai Genechem Co.,Ltd.	REVG004	Increased virus infection efficiency
Image Pro Plus software	Media Cybernetics, Bethesda, MD, USA	version 6.0
Lipofectamin RNAiMAX Transfection Reagent	Invitrogen	13778150	Increased virus infection efficiency
Live cell dye	Luna	F23001	stored at 4 °C
Low-speed desktop centrifuge	cence	TD5A-WS/TD5AWS
Nucleofactor-α 2b Device	Lonza
Opti-MEM	Gibco	31985070	stored at 4 °C
Pasteur pipette	Sangon Bitech	F621006-0001
Peristaltic pump	LangerPump	BT100-2J
PVDF membrane	Millipore	IPVH00010	Activate with methanol
PX458	Addgene	48138	stored at -80 °C
Refrigerated centrifuge	Thermo Scientific Heraeus	Labofuge 400
RSL3	MCE	HY-100218A	Stock concentration 10 mM, final concentration 4 µM
Trypsin/EDTA	Gibico	25200072	stored at 4 °C
Wee1 siRNA	Guangzhou RiboBio Co., Ltd.	siG2003180909205971	stored at -20 °C