Hybridization Chain Reaction RNA Whole-Mount Fluorescence In situ Hybridization of Chemosensory Genes in Mosquito Olfactory Appendages

Summary

The article describes the methods and reagents necessary to perform hybridization chain reaction RNA whole-mount fluorescence in situ hybridization (HCR RNA WM-FISH) to reveal insights into the spatial and cellular resolution of chemosensory receptor genes in the mosquito antenna and maxillary palp.

Abstract

Mosquitoes are effective vectors of deadly diseases and can navigate their chemical environment using chemosensory receptors expressed in their olfactory appendages. Understanding how chemosensory receptors are spatially organized in the peripheral olfactory appendages can offer insights into how odor is encoded in the mosquito olfactory system and inform new ways to combat the spread of mosquito-borne diseases. The emergence of third-generation hybridization chain reaction RNA whole-mount fluorescence in situ hybridization (HCR RNA WM-FISH) allows for spatial mapping and simultaneous expression profiling of multiple chemosensory genes. Here, we describe a stepwise approach for performing HCR RNA WM-FISH on the Anopheles mosquito antenna and maxillary palp. We investigated the sensitivity of this technique by examining the expression profile of ionotropic olfactory receptors. We asked if the HCR WM-FISH technique described was suitable for multiplexed studies by tethering RNA probes to three spectrally distinct fluorophores. Results provided evidence that HCR RNA WM-FISH is robustly sensitive to simultaneously detect multiple chemosensory genes in the antenna and maxillary palp olfactory appendages. Further investigations attest to the suitability of HCR WM-FISH for co-expression profiling of double and triple RNA targets. This technique, when applied with modifications, could be adaptable to localize genes of interest in the olfactory tissues of other insect species or in other appendages.

Introduction

Mosquito vectors such as Anopheles gambiae rely on a rich repertoire of chemosensory genes expressed in their peripheral olfactory appendages to thrive in a complex chemical world and identify behaviorally relevant odors emanating from human hosts, detect nectar sources, and locate oviposition sites¹. The mosquito antenna and the maxillary palp are enriched with chemosensory genes that drive odor detection in these olfactory appendages. Three main classes of ligand-gated ion channels drive odor detection in mosquitoes' olfactory appendages: the Odorant receptors (ORs), which function with an obligate Odorant receptor co-receptor (O....

Protocol

1. Considerations and preparation of materials

1. Decide if whole-mount or cryo-section of tissue will be appropriate. This protocol is optimized for whole-mount in situ imaging of RNA in the Anopheles mosquito antenna and maxillary palp without cryo-sectioning. If samples are thicker than 5 mm, cryo-sectioning is recommended to enable probe penetration.
2. Identify the genes of interest and copy the sequences including introns and exons from a suitable database. Transcribe the gene sequence into RNA for synthesis.
3. Determine whether to purchase probes from commercial vendors or if probes will be synthesized ....

Results

Robust detection of chemosensory genes in Anopheles antenna
We investigated the sensitivity of the HCR FISH method (Figure 1) to detect the expression of chemosensory receptors in mosquito olfactory tissues. Guided by the RNA transcript data reported earlier on the female Anopheles mosquito antenna, we generated probes to target a variety of IRs. The average transcript values from four independent antennal transcriptome studies revealed that Ir41t.1 (.......

Discussion

The third generation of hybridization chain reaction (HCR) is remarkable for its sensitivity and robustness to visualize several RNA targets⁸. HCR WM-FISH has been successfully used on the embryos of Drosophila, chicken, mice, and zebrafish as well as the larvae of nematodes and zebrafish^10,16,17. Mosquito antennae and maxillary palps are typically prone to high autofluorescence and weak probe pe.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Amplification buffer	Molecular Instruments	Molecular Instruments, Inc. | In Situ Hybridization + Immunofluorescence	50 mL
Calcium Chloride (CaCl2) 1M	Sigma-Aldrich	21115-100ML
Chitinase	Sigma-Aldrich	C6137-50UN
Chymotrypsin	Sigma-Aldrich	CHY5S-10VL
Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)	Sigma-Aldrich	472301
Eppendorf tube	VWR	20901-551	1.5 mL
Forceps	Dumont	11251	Number 5
Gel loading tip	Costar	4853	1-200 µL tip
Hairpins	Molecular Instruments	Molecular Instruments, Inc. | In Situ Hybridization + Immunofluorescence	h1 and h2 initiator splits
HEPES (1M)	Sigma-Aldrich	H0887
IR25a probe	Molecular Instruments	Probe Set ID: PRK149	AGAP010272
IR41t.1 probe	Molecular Instruments	Probe Set ID: PRK978	AGAP004432
IR64a probe	Molecular Instruments	Probe Set ID: PRK700	AGAP004923
IR75d probe	Molecular Instruments	Probe Set ID: PRK976	AGAP004969
IR76b probe	Molecular Instruments	Probe Set ID: PRI998	AGAP011968
IR7t probe	Molecular Instruments	Probe Set ID: PRL355	AGAP002763
IR8a probe	Molecular Instruments	Probe Set ID: PRK150	AGAP010411
LoBind Tubes	VWR	80077-236	0.5 mL DNA/RNA LoBind Tubes
Magnessium Chloride (MgCl2) 1M	Thermo Fisher	AM9530G
Methanol	Fisher	A412-500
Nuclease-free water	Thermo Fisher	43-879-36
Nutator	Denville Scientific	Model 135	3-D Mini rocker
Orco probe	Molecular Instruments	Probe set ID PRD954	AGAP002560
Paraformaldehyde (20% )	Electron Microscopy Services	15713-S
Phosphate Buffered Saline (10X PBS)	Thermo Fisher	AM9625
Probe hybridization buffer	Molecular Instruments	https://www.molecularinstruments.com/	50 mL
Probe wash buffer	Molecular Instruments	Molecular Instruments, Inc. | In Situ Hybridization + Immunofluorescence	100 mL
Proteinase-K	Thermo Fisher	AM2548
Saline-Sodium Citrate (SSC) 20x	Thermo Fisher	15-557-044
SlowFade Diamond	Thermo Fisher	S36972	mounting solution
Sodium Chloride (NaCl) 5M	Invitrogen	AM9760G
Triton X-100  (10%)	Sigma-Aldrich	93443
Tween-20 (10% )	Teknova	T0027
Watch glass	Carolina	742300	1 5/8" square; transparent