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The gastrointestinal tract is one of the most sensitive organs to injury upon radiotherapeutic cancer treatments. It is simultaneously an organ system with one of the highest regenerative capacities following such insults. The presented protocol describes an efficient method to study the regenerative capacity of the intestinal epithelium.
The intestinal epithelium consists of a single layer of cells yet contains multiple types of terminally differentiated cells, which are generated by the active proliferation of intestinal stem cells located at the bottom of intestinal crypts. However, during events of acute intestinal injury, these active intestinal stem cells undergo cell death. Gamma irradiation is a widely used colorectal cancer treatment, which, while therapeutically efficacious, has the side effect of depleting the active stem cell pool. Indeed, patients frequently experience gastrointestinal radiation syndrome while undergoing radiotherapy, in part due to active stem cell depletion. The loss of active intestinal stem cells in intestinal crypts activates a pool of typically quiescent reserve intestinal stem cells and induces dedifferentiation of secretory and enterocyte precursor cells. If not for these cells, the intestinal epithelium would lack the ability to recover from radiotherapy and other such major tissue insults. New advances in lineage-tracing technologies allow tracking of the activation, differentiation, and migration of cells during regeneration and have been successfully employed for studying this in the gut. This study aims to depict a method for the analysis of cells within the mouse intestinal epithelium following radiation injury.
The human intestinal epithelium would cover approximately the surface of half a badminton court if placed completely flat1. Instead, this single cell layer separating humans from the contents of their guts is compacted into a series of finger-like projections, villi, and indentations, crypts that maximize the surface area of the intestines. The cells of the epithelium differentiate along a crypt-villus axis. The villus primarily consists of nutrient-absorbing enterocytes, mucus-secreting goblet cells, and the hormone-producing enteroendocrine cells, while the crypts primarily consist of defensin-producing Paneth cells, active and reserve stem c....
All mice were housed in the Division of Laboratory Animal Resources (DLAR) at Stony Brook University. The Stony Brook University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) approved all studies and procedures involving animal subjects. Experiments involving animal subjects were conducted strictly in accordance with the approved animal handling protocol (IACUC #245094).
NOTE: Mouse strains B6;129-Bmi1tm1(cre/ERT)Mrc/J (Bmi1-CreER) and B6.129X1-
The use of 12 Gy total-body irradiation (TBI) in combination with murine genetic lineage tracing allows for a thorough analysis of the consequences of radiation injury in the gut. To start, Bmi1-CreER;Rosa26eYFP mice received a single tamoxifen injection, which induces enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (EYFP) expression within a Bmi1+ reserve stem cell population. Two days subsequent to the tamoxifen injection, the mice underwent irradiation or sham irradiation. Three hour.......
This protocol describes a robust and reproducible radiation injury model. It allows for the precise analysis of the changes in the intestinal epithelium over the course of 7 days post injury. Importantly, the selected time points reflect crucial stages of injury and are characterized by distinct alterations to the intestine (injury, apoptosis, regeneration, and normalization phases)60. This model of irradiation has been established and carefully assessed, demonstrating a suitable manifestation of .......
The authors wish to acknowledge the Stony Brook Cancer Center Histology Research Core for expert assistance with tissue specimen preparation and the Division of Laboratory Animal Resources at Stony Brook University for assistance with animal care and handling. This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health DK124342 awarded to Agnieszka B. Bialkowska and DK052230 to Dr. Vincent W. Yang.
....Name | Company | Catalog Number | Comments |
1 mL syringe | BD | 309659 | - |
16G Reusable Small Animal Feeding Needles: Straight | VWR | 20068-630 | - |
27G x 1/2" needle | BD | 305109 | - |
28G x 1/2" Monoject 1mL insulin syringe | Covidien | 1188128012 | - |
5-Ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine (EdU) | Santa Cruz Biotechnology | sc284628A | 10 mg/mL in sterile DMSO:water (1:4 v/v), aliquot and store in -20°C |
Azer Scientific 10% Neutral Buffered Formalin | Fisher Scientific | 22-026-213 | - |
B6.129X1-Gt(ROSA)26Sortm1(EYFP)Cos/J | The Jackson Laboratory | Strain #:006148 | |
B6;129-Bmi1tm1(cre/ERT)Mrc/J | The Jackson Laboratory | Strain #:010531 | |
Bovine Serum Albumin Fraction V, heat shock | Millipore-Sigma | 3116956001 | |
Chicken anti-GFP | Aves | GFP-1020 | |
Click-IT plus EdU Alexa Fluor 555 imaging kit, Invitrogen | Thermo Fisher Scientific | C10638 | - |
Corn oil | Millipore-Sigma | C8267 | - |
Decloaking Chamber | Biocare Medical | DC2012 | - |
Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) | Fisher BioReagents | BP231-100 | light sensitive |
DNase-free proteinase K | Invitrogen | C10618H | diluted 25x in DPBS |
Donkey anti-chicken AF647 | Jackson ImmunoResearch | 703-605-155 | |
DPBS | Fisher Scientific | 21-031-CV | - |
Eosin | Fisher Scientific | S176 | |
Fluorescence Microscope Nikon Eclipse 90i Bright and fluoerescent light, with objectives: 10X, 20X | Nikon | ||
Fluoromount Aqueous Mounting Medium | Millipore-Sigma | F4680-25ML | |
Gamma Cell 40 Exactor | Best Theratronics Ltd. | - | 0.759 Gy min-1 |
Goat anti-rabbit AF488 | Jackson ImmunoResearch | 111-545-144 | |
Hematoxylin Solution, Gill No. 3 | Millipore-Sigma | GHS332 | |
HM 325 Rotary Microtome from Thermo Scientific | Fisher Scientific | 23-900-668 | |
Hoechst 33258, Pentahydrate (bis-Benzimide) | Thermo Fisher Scientific | H3569 | dilution 1:1000 |
Hydrogen Peroxide Solution, ACS, 29-32%, Spectrum Chemical | Fisher Scientific | 18-603-252 | - |
In Situ Cell Death Detection Kit, Fluorescein (Roche) | Millipore-Sigma | 11684795910 | |
Liquid Blocker Super PAP PEN, Mini | Fisher Scientific | DAI-PAP-S-M | |
Lithium Carbonate (Powder/Certified ACS), Fisher Chemical | Fisher Scientific | L119-500 | 0.5g/1L dH2O |
Luer-Lok Syringe sterile, single use, 10 mL | VWR | 89215-218 | - |
Methanol | VWR | BDH1135-4LP | |
Pharmco Products Ethyl alcohol, 200 PROOF | Fisher Scientific | NC1675398 | - |
Pharmco-Aaper 281000ACSCSLT Acetic Acid ACS Grade | Capitol Scientific | AAP-281000ACSCSLT | - |
Rabbit anti-Ki67 | BioCare Medical | CRM325 | |
Richard-Allan Scientific Cytoseal XYL Mounting Medium | Fisher Scientific | 22-050-262 | |
Scientific Industries Incubator-Genie for baking slides at 65 degree | Fisher Scientific | 50-728-103 | |
Sodium Citrate Dihydrate | Fisher Scientific | S279-500 | |
Stainless Steel Dissecting Kit | VWR | 25640-002 | |
Superfrost Plus micro slides [size: 25 x 75 x 1 mm] | VWR | 48311-703 | |
Tamoxifen | Millipore-Sigma | T5648 | 30 mg/mL in sterile corn oil, preferably fresh or short-sterm storage in -20°C, light sensitive |
Tissue-Tek 24-Slide Holders with Detachable Handle | Sakura | 4465 | |
Tissue-Tek Accu-Edge Low Profile Blades | Sakura | 4689 | |
Tissue-Tek Manual Slide Staining Set | Sakura | 4451 | |
Tissue-Tek Staining Dish, Green with Lid | Sakura | 4456 | |
Tissue-Tek Staining Dish, White with Lid | Sakura | 4457 | |
Tween 20 | Millipore-Sigma | P7949 | |
Unisette Processing Cassettes | VWR | 87002-292 | - |
VWR Micro Cover Glasses | VWR | 48393-081 | |
Xylene | Fisher Scientific | X5P-1GAL |
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