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Manipulation of Single Neural Stem Cells and Neurons in Brain Slices using Robotic Microinjection

A central question in developmental neurobiology is how neural stem and progenitor cells form the brain. To answer this question, one needs to label, ...

Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics

Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

Interkinetic nuclear migration (INM), the movement of neuroepithelial and radial glial cell nuclei along the apical-basal axis in concert with the cell cycle, underlies the pseudostratification of the ventricular zone (VZ). Recent studies provide insight into the molecular mechanisms of INM and its effects on neural progenitor cell fate determination. Moreover, INM not only has a key role in increasing the VZ progenitor pool, but also may have set the stage for the evolution of subventricular zone progenitors implicated in cortical expansion.

Neural progenitor nuclei IN motion.

A challenge in the field of neural stem cell biology is the mechanistic dissection of single stem cell behavior in tissue. Although such behavior can be tracked by sophisticated imaging techniques, current methods of genetic manipulation do not allow researchers to change the level of a defined gene product on a truly acute time scale and are limited to very few genes at a time. To overcome these limitations, we established microinjection of neuroepithelial/radial glial cells (apical progenitors) in organotypic slice culture of embryonic mouse brain. Microinjected apical progenitors showed cell cycle parameters that were indistinguishable to apical progenitors in utero, underwent self-renewing divisions and generated neurons. Microinjection of single genes, recombinant proteins or complex mixtures of RNA was found to elicit acute and defined changes in apical progenitor behavior and progeny fate. Thus, apical progenitor microinjection provides a new approach to acutely manipulating single neural stem and progenitor cells in tissue.

A new approach to manipulate the fate of single neural stem cells in tissue.

This microinjection protocol allows the manipulation and tracking of neural stem and progenitor cells in tissue at single-cell resolution. We demonstrate how to apply microinjection to organotypic brain slices obtained from mice and ferrets; however, our technique is not limited to mouse and ferret embryos, but provides a means of introducing a wide variety of membrane-impermeable molecules (e.g., nucleic acids, proteins, hydrophilic compounds) into neural stem and progenitor cells of any developing mammalian brain. Microinjection experiments are conducted by using a phase-contrast microscope equipped with epifluorescence, a transjector and a micromanipulator. The procedure normally takes ∼2 h for an experienced researcher, and the entire protocol, including tissue processing, can be performed within 1 week. Thus, microinjection is a unique and versatile method for changing and tracking the fate of a cell in organotypic slice culture. 

Microinjection of membrane-impermeable molecules into single neural stem cells in brain tissue.

Neural stem and progenitor cells have a central role in the development and evolution of the mammalian neocortex. In this review, we first provide a set of criteria to classify the various types of cortical stem and progenitor cells. We then discuss the issue of cell polarity, as well as specific subcellular features of these cells that are relevant for their modes of division and daughter cell fate. In addition, cortical stem and progenitor cell behavior is placed into a tissue context, with consideration of extracellular signals and cell-cell interactions. Finally, the differences across species regarding cortical stem and progenitor cells are dissected to gain insight into key developmental and evolutionary mechanisms underlying neocortex expansion. 

The cell biology of neurogenesis: toward an understanding of the development and evolution of the neocortex.

Evolutionary expansion of the human neocortex reflects increased amplification of basal progenitors in the subventricular zone, producing more neurons during fetal corticogenesis. In this work, we analyze the transcriptomes of distinct progenitor subpopulations isolated by a cell polarity-based approach from developing mouse and human neocortex. We identify 56 genes preferentially expressed in human apical and basal radial glia that lack mouse orthologs. Among these, ARHGAP11B has the highest degree of radial glia-specific expression. ARHGAP11B arose from partial duplication of ARHGAP11A (which encodes a Rho guanosine triphosphatase-activating protein) on the human lineage after separation from the chimpanzee lineage. Expression of ARHGAP11B in embryonic mouse neocortex promotes basal progenitor generation and self-renewal and can increase cortical plate area and induce gyrification. Hence, ARHGAP11B may have contributed to evolutionary expansion of human neocortex. 

Human-specific gene ARHGAP11B promotes basal progenitor amplification and neocortex expansion.

The evolutionary expansion of the neocortex in mammals has been linked to enlargement of the subventricular zone (SVZ) and increased proliferative capacity of basal progenitors (BPs), notably basal radial glia (bRG). The transcription factor Pax6 is known to be highly expressed in primate, but not mouse, BPs. Here, we demonstrate that sustaining Pax6 expression selectively in BP-genic apical radial glia (aRG) and their BP progeny of embryonic mouse neocortex suffices to induce primate-like progenitor behaviour. Specifically, we conditionally expressed Pax6 by in utero electroporation using a novel, Tis21-CreERT2 mouse line. This expression altered aRG cleavage plane orientation to promote bRG generation, increased cell-cycle re-entry of BPs, and ultimately increased upper-layer neuron production. Upper-layer neuron production was also increased in double-transgenic mouse embryos with sustained Pax6 expression in the neurogenic lineage. Strikingly, increased BPs existed not only in the SVZ but also in the intermediate zone of the neocortex of these double-transgenic mouse embryos. In mutant mouse embryos lacking functional Pax6, the proportion of bRG among BPs was reduced. Our data identify specific Pax6 effects in BPs and imply that sustaining this Pax6 function in BPs could be a key aspect of SVZ enlargement and, consequently, the evolutionary expansion of the neocortex. 

Sustained Pax6 Expression Generates Primate-like Basal Radial Glia in Developing Mouse Neocortex.

We have applied the CRISPR/Cas9 system in vivo to disrupt gene expression in neural stem cells in the developing mammalian brain. Two days after in utero electroporation of a single plasmid encoding Cas9 and an appropriate guide RNA (gRNA) into the embryonic neocortex of Tis21::GFP knock-in mice, expression of GFP, which occurs specifically in neural stem cells committed to neurogenesis, was found to be nearly completely (≈ 90%) abolished in the progeny of the targeted cells. Importantly, upon in utero electroporation directly of recombinant Cas9/gRNA complex, near-maximal efficiency of disruption of GFP expression was achieved already after 24 h. Furthermore, by using microinjection of the Cas9 protein/gRNA complex into neural stem cells in organotypic slice culture, we obtained disruption of GFP expression within a single cell cycle. Finally, we used either Cas9 plasmid in utero electroporation or Cas9 protein complex microinjection to disrupt the expression of Eomes/Tbr2, a gene fundamental for neocortical neurogenesis. This resulted in a reduction in basal progenitors and an increase in neuronal differentiation. Thus, the present in vivo application of the CRISPR/Cas9 system in neural stem cells provides a rapid, efficient and enduring disruption of expression of specific genes to dissect their role in mammalian brain development.

CRISPR/Cas9-induced disruption of gene expression in mouse embryonic brain and single neural stem cells in vivo.

Delamination of neural progenitor cells (NPCs) from the ventricular surface is a crucial prerequisite to form the subventricular zone, the germinal layer linked to the expansion of the mammalian neocortex in development and evolution. Here, we dissect the molecular mechanism by which the transcription factor Insm1 promotes the generation of basal progenitors (BPs). Insm1 protein is most highly expressed in newborn BPs in mouse and human developing neocortex. Forced Insm1 expression in embryonic mouse neocortex causes NPC delamination, converting apical to basal radial glia. Insm1 represses the expression of the apical adherens junction belt-specific protein Plekha7. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated disruption of Plekha7 expression suffices to cause NPC delamination. Plekha7 overexpression impedes the intrinsic and counteracts the Insm1-induced, NPC delamination. Our findings uncover a novel molecular mechanism underlying NPC delamination in which a BP-genic transcription factor specifically targets the integrity of the apical adherens junction belt, rather than adherens junction components as such.

Insm1 Induces Neural Progenitor Delamination in Developing Neocortex via Downregulation of the Adherens Junction Belt-Specific Protein Plekha7.

Neurons forming the central nervous system are generated by neural stem and progenitor cells, via a process called neurogenesis (Götz and Huttner, Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol, 6:777-788, 2005). In this book chapter, we focus on neurogenesis in the dorsolateral telencephalon, the rostral-most region of the neural tube, which contains the part of the central nervous system that is most expanded in mammals (Borrell and Reillo, Dev Neurobiol, 72:955-971, 2012; Wilsch-Bräuninger et al., Curr Opin Neurobiol 39:122-132, 2016). We will discuss recent advances in the dissection of the cell biological mechanisms of neurogenesis, with particular attention to the organization and function of the Golgi apparatus and its relationship to the centrosome.

The Golgi Apparatus in Polarized Neuroepithelial Stem Cells and Their Progeny: Canonical and Noncanonical Features.

Microinjection into single cells in brain tissue is a powerful technique to study and manipulate neural stem cells. However, such microinjection requires expertise and is a low-throughput process. We developed the "Autoinjector", a robot that utilizes images from a microscope to guide a microinjection needle into tissue to deliver femtoliter volumes of liquids into single cells. The Autoinjector enables microinjection of hundreds of cells within a single organotypic slice, resulting in an overall yield that is an order of magnitude greater than manual microinjection. The Autoinjector successfully targets both apical progenitors (APs) and newborn neurons in the embryonic mouse and human fetal telencephalon. We used the Autoinjector to systematically study gap-junctional communication between neural progenitors in the embryonic mouse telencephalon and found that apical contact is a characteristic feature of the cells that are part of a gap junction-coupled cluster. The throughput and versatility of the Autoinjector will render microinjection an accessible high-performance single-cell manipulation technique and will provide a powerful new platform for performing single-cell analyses in tissue for bioengineering and biophysics applications.

Elena Taverna

Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics

Manipulation of Single Neural Stem Cells and Neurons in Brain Slices using Robotic Microinjection