Lineage Tracing of Inducible Fluorescently-Labeled Stem Cells in the Adult Mouse Brain

Summary

The ability to permanently mark stem cells and their progeny with a fluorophore using an inducible transgenic lineage tracing mouse line allows for spatial and temporal analysis of activation, proliferation, migration, and/or differentiation in vivo. Lineage tracing can reveal novel information about lineage commitment, response to intervention(s), and multipotency.

Abstract

A telomerase reverse transcriptase (Tert) lineage-tracing mouse line was developed to investigate the behavior and fate of adult tissue stem cells, by crossing the 'Tet-On' system oTet-Cre mouse with a novel reverse tetracycline transactivator (rtTA) transgene linked to the Tert promoter, which we have demonstrated marks a novel population of adult brain stem cells. Here, administration of the tetracycline derivative doxycycline to mTert-rtTA::oTet-Cre mice will indelibly mark a population of cells that express a 4.4 kb fragment of the promoter region of the gene Tert. When combined the Rosa-mTmG reporter, mTert-rtTA::oTet-Cre::Rosa-mTmG mice will express membrane tdTomato (mTomato) until doxycycline treatment induces the replacement of mTomato expression with membrane EGFP (mGFP) in cells that also express Tert. Therefore, when these triple-transgenic lineage tracing mice receive doxycycline (the "pulse" period during which TERT expressing cells are marked), these cells will become indelibly marked mGFP+ cells, which can be tracked for any desirable amount of time after doxycycline removal (the "chase" period), even if Tert expression is subsequently lost. Brains are then perfusion-fixed and processed for immunofluorescence and other downstream applications in order to interpret changes to stem cell activation, proliferation, lineage commitment, migration to various brain niches, and differentiation to mature cell types. Using this system, any rtTA mouse can be mated to oTet-Cre and a Rosa reporter to conduct doxycycline-inducible "pulse-chase" lineage tracing experiments using markers of stem cells.

Introduction

Value of a lineage tracing mouse line
Analysis of stem cells in vivo can be difficult since many assays that examine such cells only focus on characterizing these cells at the time of death of the animal, which represents a terminal snapshot in time. To better understand the processes of proliferation, differentiation, and migration of progenitor, intermediate/transition cell types, and mature cells over time, a longitudinal analysis approach is required. This can be achieved with lineage tracing studies whereby stem/progenitor cells are marked indelibly and can be followed for any length of time afterwards¹.

....

Protocol

All methods described here have been approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) of The Ohio State University.

1. Creation of a lineage tracing Tet-On mouse line, breeding strategies, and genotyping for experimental cohort mice

NOTE: Here, we outline creation of a Tet-On mouse system with Rosa-mTmG as the fluorescent reporter gene that undergoes Cre recombination, however various other Cre-recombination-driven reporter lines ca.......

Discussion

A method for the creation, utilization, and analysis of a triple transgenic lineage tracing mouse line marking stem cells within the adult mouse brain in vivo is described. When combined with immunostaining or brain clearing, the identification and characterization of traced fluorescent cells across the brain can be accomplished. This technique offers the ability to understand the plastic/regenerative/remodeling potential of labeled stem cells as they activate, migrate, differentiate, or proliferate. While previ.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Antibody diluent	Agilent	S080983-2
Antigen Retrieval Solution	Agilent	S2367
anti-GFP antibody	Invitrogen	A2311	Use at 1:500-1:000
Acetone	Fisher Scientific	A18-4
B6.Cg-Tg(tet0-cre)1Jaw/J	The Jackson Laboratory	JAX:006234
B6.129(Cg)-Gt(ROSA)26Sortm4(ACTB-tdTomato,-EGFP)Luo/J	The Jackson Laboratory	JAX:007676
Blocking Solution (IHC)	Millipore Sigma	20773
Blunt needle	BSTEAN	X0012SYHIV
Coronal brain block	Braintree	BS-2000C
Cover slip	Corning	2850-22
Cryostat	Leica	CM1900
DAPI	Sigma-Aldrich	D564
Dibenzyl ether	Millipore Sigma	33630
Dichloromethane	Sigma-Aldrich	270997
Dimethyl Sulfoxide	Sigma-Aldrich	D8418
Donkey Serum	Sigma-Aldrich	D9663
Doxycycline Hyclate	Sigma-Aldrich	D9891
Glycine	Bio-Rad	161-0718
Heparin Sodium Salt from Porcine Mucosa	Sigma-Aldrich	H3393
Histochoice Molecular Biology Tissue Fixative	Amresco	H120	This product has since been discontinued, but can be replaced with Glyo-Fixx (Thermo Scientific, 6764265)
Hydrogen Peroxide Solution	Sigma-Aldrich	516813
IHC Select TBS Rinse Buffer	Millipore Sigma	20845
Ketamine	Westward	0143-95095-10	This product requires a DEA license for storage and use.
Methanol	Fisher Scientific	A452-4
Microscope Slides	Fisherbrand	12-550-15
Milipore Block	Millipore	20773
Mounting medium	Millipore Sigma	5013
Optimal Cutting Temperature Solution	Sakura	4583
Paraformaldehyde	Sigma-Aldrich	P6148
PBS Solution (10X)	Teknova	P0496
Sagittal brain block	Braintree	RBM-2000S
Saline	Braun	S8004-5264
Sucrose	Sigma-Aldrich	S7903
Sudan (Typogen) Black	Millipore Sigma	199664
Tetrahydrofuran	Sigma-Aldrich	186562
Tissue cartridge	Simport	M512
Triton X-100	Bio-Rad	1610407
Tween-20	Millipore Sigma	655205
Xylazine	AnaSed	sc-362950Rx