Expression of Transgenes in Native Bladder Urothelium Using Adenovirus-Mediated Transduction

Summary

Methods are described for the generation of large amounts of recombinant adenoviruses, which can then be used to transduce the native rodent urothelium allowing for expression of transgenes or downregulation of endogenous gene products.

Abstract

In addition to forming a high-resistance barrier, the urothelium lining the renal pelvis, ureters, bladder, and proximal urethra is hypothesized to sense and transmit information about its environment to the underlying tissues, promoting voiding function and behavior. Disruption of the urothelial barrier, or its sensory/transducer function, can lead to disease. Studying these complex events is hampered by lack of simple strategies to alter gene and protein expression in the urothelium. Methods are described here that allow investigators to generate large amounts of high-titer adenovirus, which can then be used to transduce rodent urothelium with high efficiency, and in a relatively straightforward manner. Both cDNAs and small interfering RNAs can be expressed using adenoviral transduction, and the impact of transgene expression on urothelial function can be assessed 12 h to several days later. These methods have broad applicability to studies of normal and abnormal urothelial biology using mouse or rat animal models.

Introduction

The urothelium is the specialized epithelium that lines the renal pelvis, ureters, bladder, and proximal urethra¹. It comprises three strata: a layer of highly differentiated and polarized often bi-nucleate umbrella cells, whose apical surfaces are bathed in urine; an intermediate cell layer with a population of bi-nucleate transit-amplifying cells that can give rise to superficial umbrella cells in response to their acute loss; and a single layer of basal cells, a subset of which function as stem cells that can regenerate the entirety of the urothelium in response to chronic injury. Umbrella cells are chiefly responsible for forming the high-r....

Protocol

Experiments involving the generation of adenoviruses, which requires BSL2 certification, were performed under approval from the University of Pittsburgh Environmental Health and Safety offices and the Institutional Biosafety Committee. All animal experiments performed, including adenoviral transduction (which requires ABSL2 certification), were done in accordance with relevant guidelines/regulations of the Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and the Animal Welfare Act, and under the approval of the University of Pittsburgh Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. Gloves, eye protection, and appropriate garb are worn for all pr....

Results

Virus preparation
An example of virus purification by density gradient centrifugation is shown in Figure 1A. The light pink band, found at the interface of the loaded cellular material and the 1.25 g/mL CsCl layer, is primarily composed of disrupted cells and their debris (see magenta arrow in Figure 1A). It derives its pinkish color from the small amount of culture medium that is carried over from step 1.5 in the protocol. The virus parti.......

Discussion

While Ramesh et al. were focused on developing strategies to use adenoviral transduction in the treatment of bladder cancer¹⁸, more recent reports have demonstrated the utility of these techniques in studying normal urothelial biology/physiology and pathophysiology^{10,18,19,20,21}. The important features of this approach include the follo.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
10 mL pipette	Corning Costar (Millipore Sigma)	CLS4488	sterile, serological pipette, individually wrapped
12 mL ultracentrifuge tube	ThermoFisher	06-752	PET thinwall ultracentrifuge tube
15 mL conical centrifuge tube	Falcon (Corning)	352097	sterile
18 G needle	BD	305196	18 G x 1.5 in needle
20 mL pipette	Corning Costar (Millipore Sigma)	CLS4489	sterile, serological pipette, individually wrapped
50 mL conical centrifuge tube	Falcon (Corning)	352098	sterile
5 mL pipette	Corning Costar (Millipore Sigma)	CLS4487	sterile, serological pipette, individually wrapped
Cavicide	Henry Schein	6400012	Anti-viral solution
Cell culture dish - 15 cm	Falcon (Corning)	353025	sterile, tissue-culture treated  (150 mm x 25 mm dish)
Cell scraper	Sarstedt	893.1832	handle length 24 cm, blade length 1.7 cm
CsCl	Millipore Sigma	C-4306	Molecular Biology grade ≥ 98%
DMEM culture medium (high glucose)	Gibco (ThermoFisher)	11965092	with 4.5 g/L glucose + L-glutamine + phenol red
EDTA	Millipore Sigma	EDS	Bioiultra grade ≥ 99%
Fetal bovine serum	Hyclone (Cytiva)	SH30070.03	defined serum
Glass pipette	Fisher Scientific	13-678-20A	5.75 in glass pipette, autoclaved
Glycerol	Millipore Sigma	G-5516	Molecular Biology grade ≥ 99%
HEK293 cells	ATCC	CRL-3216	HEK293T cells are a variant of HEK293 cells that express the SV40 large T-antigen
Isoflurane	Covetrus	29405
IV catheter - mouse	Smith Medical Jelco	3063	24 G x 3/4 in Safety IV catheter  radiopaque
IV catheter - rat	Smith Medical Jelco	3060	22 G x 1 in Safety IV catheter radiopaque
KCl	Millipore Sigma	P-9541	Molecular Biology grade ≥ 99%
KH2PO4	Millipore Sigma	P5655	Cell culture grade  ≥ 99%
Na2HPO4•7 H2O	Millipore Sigma	431478	≥ 99.99%
NaCl	Millipore Sigma	S3014	Molecular Biology grade ≥ 99%
N-dodecyl-β-D-maltoside	Millipore Sigma	D4641	≥ 98%
Nose cone for multiple animals	custom designed		commercial options include one from Parkland Scientific (RES3200)
PD-10 column	GE Healthcare	17-085-01	Prepacked columns filled ith Sephadex G-25M
Penicillin/streptomycin antibiotic (100x)	Gibco (ThermoFisher)	15070063	100x concentrated solution
Spectrophotometer	Eppendorf	BioPhotometer
Stand and clamp	Fisher Scientific	14-679Q and 05-769-8FQ	available from numerous suppliers
Sterile filter unit	Fisher Scientific (Nalgene)	09-740-65B	0.2 µm rapid-flow filter unit (150 mL)
Sterile filter unit 0.2 µm (syringe)	Fisher Scientific	SLGV004SL	Millipore Sigma Milex 0.22 µm filter unit that attaches to syringe
Super speed centrifuge	Eppendorf	5810R	with Eppendorf F34-6-38 fixed angle rotor (12,000 rpm)
Syringe (1 mL)	BD	309628	1-mL syringe Luer-lok tip - sterile
Syringe (3 mL)	BD	309656	3-mL syringe slip tip - sterile
Table-top centrifuge (low speed)	Eppendorf	5702	with swinging bucket rotor
Transfer pipettes	Fisher Scientific	13-711-9AM	polyethylene 3.4 mL transfer pipette
Tris-base	Millipore Sigma	648310-M	Molecular Biology grade
TrypLE select protease solution	Gibco (ThermoFisher)	12604013	TrypLE express enzyme (1x), no phenol red
Ultracentrifuge	Beckman Coulter	Optima L-80 XP	with Beckman SW41 rotor (41,000 rpm)
Vaporizer	General Anesthetic Services, Inc.	Tec 3	Isoflurane vaporizer
Vortex Mixer	VWR	10153-838	analog vortex mixer