Name: Confocal Imaging of Vital and Non-Vital Pericytes in Rat Acute Brain Slices
Uploaded: 2023-08-18T15:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Confocal Imaging of Vital and Non-Vital Pericytes in Rat Acute Brain Slices at JoVE.com

confocal imaging of vital and non-vital pericytes in rat acute brain slices

Visualisatie van contractiliteit van pericyten in de hersenen na subarachnoïdale bloeding

Brain pericytes, distinguished by their slender protuberances and protruding cell bodies, encircle the microcirculation1,2. While cerebral blood flow augmentation is predominantly driven by capillary dilation, smaller arteries exhibit slower rates of dilation3. Pericyte contractility exerts influence over capillary diameter and pericyte morphology, impacting vascular dynamics4. Contraction of brain pericytes leads to capillary constriction, and in pathological scenarios, excessive contraction may impede erythrocyte flow5. Various factors, including norepinephrine released from the locus coeruleus, can induce brain pericyte contraction within capillaries6. With a regulatory role in cerebral blood flow, pericytes exhibit 20-HETE synthesis, serving as an oxygen sensor during hyperoxia7. Oxidative-nitrative stress-triggered contraction of brain pericytes detrimentally affects capillaries5. Despite both in vivo and ex vivo investigations into brain pericyte contraction8, limited knowledge persists regarding the imaging of viable and non-viable brain pericytes within brain slices.
Crucially, post-tissue fixation imaging of brain pericytes compromises their vitality and subsequent contractility assessment. Moreover, in scenarios such as neurological disorders (e.g., subarachnoid hemorrhage - SAH), transgenic labeling of brain pericytes fails to differentiate between viable and non-viable pericytes, as confirmed by our preliminary SAH-induced brain pericyte death study9. 
To surmount these challenges, we employed TO-PRO-3 to label live pericytes, while deceased ones were stained with propidium iodide (PI). We used high-resolution confocal imaging technologies to visualize viable and non-viable brain pericytes in brain slices while preserving slice activity during imaging. This article aims to present a reproducible method for imaging viable and non-viable brain pericytes in brain slices, serving as a valuable tool to probe the impact of brain pericytes on cerebral microcirculation post SAH.

Auteur in de schijnwerpers: Beeldvorming van pericyten na subarachnoïdale bloedingen bij knaagdieren 

Beeldvorming van vitale en niet-vitale hersenpericyten in hersenplakjes na een subarachnoïdale bloeding

Our study showed a significant increase in pericytes deaths. So starting at a sick horse after SAH, it demonstrated a positive correlation between the number of low vital parasites and the time elapsed after SAH. Imaging vital and the non-vital brain parasites in brain slices following SAH and the parasite isolation techniques, have advanced the research in my field.Currently, it's quite difficult to fully distinguish between dead parasites and dead endothelial cells. Our study find contraction-dependent apoptosis in parasites after SAH. We have developed a very reliable protocol, which enables the fluorescent labeling, both functional and a non-functional brain parasite in brain sections, and the same time.

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Confocal Imaging of Vital and Non-Vital Pericytes in Rat Acute Brain Slices at JoVE.com

Confocal Imaging of Vital and Non-Vital Pericytes in Rat Acute Brain Slices  

Confocale beeldvorming van vitale en niet-vitale pericyten in acute hersenplakjes bij ratten

Gebruik om te beginnen een plastic pasteurpipet om de fluorescerend gekleurde hersenplakjes voorzichtig over te brengen op confocale schalen met glazen bodem. Vul deze schaaltjes met gebalanceerde ACSF. Zet met een ijzeren gaas de plakjes rattenhersenen op hun plaats.Plaats vervolgens de confocale schalen met glazen bodem op de tafel van een confocale microscoop. Plaats de acute hersenplak op de bodem van de schaal en doordrenk met equilibrerende ACSF tijdens beeldvorming. Bekijk met behulp van het 40X-objectief de wandcellen van de cerebrale corticale microvasculatuur.Gebruik vervolgens compatibele software om afbeeldingsstapels vast te leggen. Identificeer cerebrale microvasculatuur en pericyten op basis van hun netwerk en morfologie, lokaliseer vervolgens een specifiek gebied met een cerebraal microvasculatuurnetwerk op elk hersenplak en leg beelden vast. Onder normale fysiologische omstandigheden ervaren hersenpericyten geen celdood.Levensvatbare pericyten die niet gekleurd waren met propidiumjodide werden gedetecteerd. De SAH-modellen toonden vitale pericyten binnen microvasculatuur. Er werden ook niet-vitale pericyten gedetecteerd.Propidiumjodide gelabeld als niet-vitale pericyten "bleef los van de gehele microvasculatuur.

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