A Modified Murine Heterotopic Heart Transplant Protocol Matching Contemporary Standards of Aseptic Technique, Anesthesia, and Analgesia

Summary

The present paper describes a modified technique for heterotopic vascularized cardiac transplantation with updated aseptic technique, analgesia, and anesthesia.

Abstract

The development of experimental models of cardiac transplantation in animals has contributed to many advances in the fields of immunology and solid organ transplantation. While the heterotopic vascularized murine cardiac transplantation model was initially utilized in studies of graft rejection using combinations of mismatched inbred mouse strains, access to genetically modified strains and therapeutic modalities can provide powerful new preclinical insights. Fundamentally, the surgical methodology for this technique has not changed since its development, especially with respect to important factors such as aseptic technique, anesthesia, and analgesia, which make material impacts on postsurgical morbidity and mortality. Additionally, improvements in perioperative management are expected to provide improvements in both animal welfare and experimental outcomes. This paper reports upon a protocol developed in collaboration with a subject matter expert in veterinary anesthesia and describes the surgical technique with an emphasis on perioperative management. Additionally, we discuss the implications of these refinements and provide details on troubleshooting critical surgical steps for this procedure.

Introduction

We owe much of our understanding of immunology and transplantation to research based on experimental models of solid organ transplantation using animal subjects. Since the first description of vascularized cardiac transplantation in mammals¹, such models have contributed to knowledge in wide-ranging domains, including the therapeutic application of hypothermia², the benefits of using specialized sutures³, and techniques for total lung and heart homotransplantations⁴. The development of cardiac transplantation models in rats^5,

Protocol

This research was performed in accordance with the Code of Practice for the Care and Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes¹⁵ and approved under Animal Ethics Protocols RA/3/100/1568 and AE173 (The University of Western Australia Animal Ethics Committee and The Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research Animal Ethics Committee, respectively). See the Table of Materials for details regarding all materials, instruments, and animals used in this protocol.

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Discussion

The murine orthotopic heart transplant model is a robust preclinical model used primarily to investigate the effects of MHC mismatch on the level and nature of immunological rejection and, more recently, the effect of transplantation on the retention of graft tissue-resident immunity¹⁶. While initially closely following the Corry et al.⁷ protocol, we have refined the protocol to incorporate best-practice standards of aseptic technique, analgesia, and anesthesia. The updatin.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
2030 Rycroft irrigating cannula 30 G	McFarlane	56005HU
Braided surgical silk 7-0
Bulldog clamp curved - 35 mm	Roboz	RS-7441-5
Bupivacaine 0.25%
Buprenorphine
Castroviejo needle holder catch curved -  145 mm	Haag-Streit	11.62.15
Chlorhexidine 5% solution	Ebos	JJ61371
Cotton-tipped applicator - 7.5 cm	Dove	SN109510
Ethanol 70% solution	Ebos	WH130192EE
Gauze 5 x 5 cm white	Aero	AGS50
Gelfoam 80 mm x 125 mm	Pfizer	7481D
Hair clipper	Wahl	9860L
Heparin 1,000 IU in 1 mL
Iris SuperCut scissors straight - 11.5 cm	Inka Surgical	11550.11
Isoflurane vaporiser	Darvall	9176
Micro bulldog clamp - 3.7 cm	Greman	14119-G
Micro scissors curved 105 mm
Micropore plain paper surgical tape - 2.5 cm wide	Ebos	7810L
Microsurgical scissors - curved tip
Monofilament polyprolene suture - 5/0	Surgipro	P-205-X
Myweigh i101 Precision Scale 100 g x 0.005 g	Myweigh	Kit00053
Needle - 30 G x 0.5 inch	BD	BD304000
Needleholder 15 cm curved "super fine"	Surgical Specialists	ST-B-15-8.2
Nylene 10/0 x 15 cm on 3.8 mm 3/8 circle round bodied taper (diam 0.07mm) CV300
Round body suture forceps curved 0.3 mm 120 mm	B. Braun	FD281R
Round body suture forceps straight 0.3 mm 120 mm	B. Braun	FD280R
Round handled vannas spring scissors-str/12.5 cm		15400-12
Spring scissors-Cvd Sm blades		15001-08
Stevens scissors blunt straight 110 mm
Surgical backboard			Rigid laminated cardboard. 15 x 15 cm
Surgical drapes			Cut into two sizes. 25 cm x 25 cm, and 25 cm x 40 cm
Surgical microscope
Syringe - 1 mL	BD	592696
Syringe - 3 mL	Leica	M651
Toothed forceps	BD	309657
University of Wisconsin Solution
Warming pad			Far infrared warming pad 20 x 25 cm
Westcott spring scissors
Yasargil clip applier bayonet	Aesculap	FE582K
Yasargil titanium clip perm 6.6 mm	Aesculap	A19FT222T
Mouse usage
Strain/SEX/Weight	Donor	Recipent
BALB/c, female, 19-23 g	7	21
C57BL/6, female, 17-20 g	7	0
CD45.1 BALB/c, female, 17-21 g	5	0