Name: isolation and culture of mouse primary pancreatic acinar cells
Uploaded: 2013-08-13T14:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Isolation and Culture of Mouse Primary Pancreatic Acinar Cells at JoVE.com

We thank the staff of AniCan (CRCL, Lyon) for their technical assistance with animal care. This work was supported by the Institut National de la Sant&eacute; Et de la Recherche M&eacute;dicale (INSERM Avenir Program), the Ligue Nationale Contre le Cancer, by the Association pour la Recherche sur le Cancer, by the Institut National du Cancer, and by fellowships from the Ligue Nationale Contre le Cancer (JG), from the Institut National du Cancer (JG), from the Minist&egrave;re de l'Enseignement Sup&eacute;rieur et de la Recherche of France (RMP and DFV) and from the Association pour la Recherche sur le Cancer (DFV).

All procedures were approved by an ethic committee under regulatory of governmental authority (&quot;Comit&eacute; d&#39;Evaluation Commun au Centre L&eacute;on B&eacute;rard, &agrave; l&#39;Animalerie de transit de l&#39;ENS, au PBES et au laboratoire P4&quot; (CECCAPP)). Mice were maintained in a specific pathogen-free animal facility at the &quot;Plateforme AniCan, Centre L&eacute;on B&eacute;rard&quot; (Lyon, France) and handled in compliance with the institutional guidelines.

	A schema...

<ol>
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In this protocol, we describe a procedure for isolating pancreatic acinar cells. This method makes possible to isolate more than 20 x 106 acinar cells per animal in less than 1 hr. Thanks to its rapid and simple implementation (as many as 10 pancreases can be independently processed per experiment in parallel), this protocol appears as a good compromise between existing isolation methods 3-5,9-12,17 .

	Critical steps/Trouble-shooting
<p class="jove_content...

A frequently encountered problem for research laboratories working on exocrine pancreatic tissue is the difficulty of cultivating acinar cells in vitro for a period of time long enough to allow a long-term experiment.
One factor impeding development of such culture systems is the intrinsic sensitivity of pancreatic tissue to experimental manipulation due to the high content in glycolytic, proteolytic, and lipolytic enzymes, which literally digest the pancreatic tissue when they are released during the isolation of pancreatic cells.
A second factor is the remarkable in vitro plasticity of acinar cells, which tend to lose their secretory characteristics and transdifferentiate to other mature cells, such as pancreatic ductal cells or hepatocyte-like cells 1. In vitro, this cell plasticity varies with the experimental conditions (such as culture medium composition) 2 and introduces a degree of complexity into the design of appropriate culture conditions for exocrine pancreatic cells 1.
Several methods have been developed for the isolation and culture of acinar cells, first from the guinea pig pancreas 3-5. Initially, those protocols involved digestion of pancreatic tissue with collagenase, chymotrypsin, and a protease cocktail, with ultimate isolation by vigorous mechanical dissociation. The pancreatic cells isolated in this way displayed abnormal structural and functional characteristics, notably a loss of apical structures and significant damage to their membrane receptors. Isolated cells remained viable for only 1 or 2 days.
Preparation of dispersed acini maintains their intra- and intercellular architecture, preserving cell membranes, limiting damage to surface receptors, and thus improving exocrine secretion in response to secretagogues 6-8. As a result, this method offers the major advantage of extending acinar cell viability to 7-10 days in vitro. Furthermore, this method is currently preferred to acinar cell isolation 9-12 because maintenance of intercellular contacts, including cell coupling by gap junctions, is an essential determinant of the exocrine pancreatic acinar cell phenotype 13.
As the dedifferentiation of acinar cells and their transdifferentiation to ductal cells is one of the proposed mechanisms for the genesis of aggressive exocrine pancreatic cancers 14, the dispersed acini model is also an adequate system to study pancreatic plasticity and its subsequent molecular mechanisms. Furthermore, in combination with the use of genetically modified animals 15,16 and the development of gene transfer techniques (adenoviral 2 or lentiviral transduction, use of nanoparticles, etc), this in vitro primary acinar cell model can be very useful in determining how various genetic dysfunctions affect the regulation of acinar cell differentiation or dedifferentiation and should provide better understanding of the molecular events responsible for the onset of pancreatitis, precancerous lesions, and changes in cell plasticity.
Isolation of dispersed acini is the approach we use in our laboratory to culture pancreatic acinar cells. We here describe and discuss the method used. It involves enzymatic dissociation of pancreatic tissue (with a bacterial collagenase) coupled to mechanical disruption without dissociation of acinar cells. While most protocols involve culturing the acini, either in suspension or on specially treated plastic substrates, we grow them in suspension only briefly (for 24 hr), seeding them afterwards onto matrix scaffolds if prolonged cell culture is required.
This protocol allows rapid isolation (in less than 1 hr) of dispersed pancreatic acini, sustainable for more than one week in culture. It allows isolation of more than 20 x 106 acinar cells per mouse pancreas. Its simplicity makes it possible to process independently as many as 10 pancreases in parallel. By maintaining the intra- and intercellular architecture of acini and thus the acinar phenotype of isolated primary cells, this model constitutes a system of choice for the study of transdifferentiation mechanisms, as all other exocrine pancreatic models currently available are derived from pancreatic tumors displaying many genetic alterations leading to cellular transformation.

<table border="1" fo:keep-together.within-page="always">
		<tbody>
		 <tr>
			<td>Name of Reagent/Material</td>
			<td>Company</td>
			<td>Catalog Number</td>
			<td>Comments</td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>0.2 &mu;m filter</td>
			<td>Dutscher</td>
			<td>146560</td>
			<td></td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>10 ml serological pipettes</td>
			<td>Beckton Dickinson</td>
			<td>357551</td>
			<td></td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>100 &mu;m filter</td>
			<td>Beckton Dickinson</td>
			<td>352360</td>
			<td></td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>100 mm Petri dish</td>
			<td>Beckton Dickinson</td>
			<td>353003</td>
			<td></td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>1000 &mu;l filter tips</td>
			<td>Starlab</td>
			<td>S1122-1830</td>
			<td></td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>20 &mu;l filter tips</td>
			<td>Starlab</td>
			<td>S1120-1810</td>
			<td></td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>200 &mu;l filter tips</td>
			<td>Starlab</td>
			<td>S1120-8810</td>
			<td></td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>25 ml serological pipettes</td>
			<td>Beckton Dickinson</td>
			<td>357535</td>
			<td></td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>5 ml serological pipettes</td>
			<td>Beckton Dickinson</td>
			<td>357543</td>
			<td></td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>50 ml polypropylene tube</td>
			<td>Beckton Dickinson</td>
			<td>352070</td>
			<td></td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>6-well plate</td>
			<td>Beckton Dickinson</td>
			<td>353046</td>
			<td></td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>Acetic acid 100%</td>
			<td>VWR BDH Prolabo</td>
			<td>20104.298</td>
			<td></td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>Collagenase IA</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>C2676</td>
			<td></td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>Curved forceps, Dumont #7</td>
			<td>World Precision Instruments</td>
			<td>14188</td>
			<td>To sterilize before use</td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>Dissecting scissors, straight</td>
			<td>World Precision Instruments</td>
			<td>14393</td>
			<td>To sterilize before use</td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>Epidermal Growth Factor, human</td>
			<td>Promokine</td>
			<td>C-60180</td>
			<td></td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>Ethanol absolute (AnalaR Normapur)</td>
			<td>VWR BDH Prolabo</td>
			<td>20821.310</td>
			<td></td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>Fetal Bovine Serum</td>
			<td>Lonza</td>
			<td>14-801F</td>
			<td></td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>Forceps, Dumont #5</td>
			<td>World Precision Instruments</td>
			<td>14098</td>
			<td>To sterilize before use</td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>Hank's Balanced Salt Solution 1x </td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>14025050</td>
			<td></td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>HEPES 1 M (pH 6.98-7.30)</td>
			<td>Lonza</td>
			<td>17-737F</td>
			<td></td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>Incubator O2/CO2</td>
			<td>Sanyo</td>
			<td>MCO-19M</td>
			<td></td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>Inverted microscope</td>
			<td>Nikon</td>
			<td>Eclipse TS100</td>
			<td></td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>Matrigel</td>
			<td>Beckton Dickinson</td>
			<td>356234</td>
			<td></td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>Microbiological Safety Cabinet, level II</td>
			<td>Faster</td>
			<td>SafeFast Elite 212 S</td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>Noyes scissors, sharp/sharp tips, German</td>
			<td>World Precision Instruments</td>
			<td>500228-G</td>
			<td>To sterilize before use</td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>Penicillin-Streptomycin mixture</td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>15140122</td>
			<td></td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>Phosphate Buffer Saline 10x </td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>14200067</td>
			<td></td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>Pipet-Aid</td>
			<td>Drummond Scientific Company</td>
			<td>Pipet-Aid XP</td>
			<td></td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>Pipetman P1000</td>
			<td>Gilson</td>
			<td>F123602</td>
			<td></td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>Pipetman P20</td>
			<td>Gilson</td>
			<td>F123600</td>
			<td></td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>Pipetman P200</td>
			<td>Gilson</td>
			<td>F123601</td>
			<td></td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>Refrigerated centrifuge</td>
			<td>Eppendorf</td>
			<td>5810R</td>
			<td></td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>Scalpel</td>
			<td>Paramount Surgimed Ltd.</td>
			<td>Disposable Scalpel Size 23</td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>T25 flask, 25 cm2</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>Z707481</td>
			<td></td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>Trypsin inhibitor, from Glycine Max</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>T6522</td>
			<td></td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>Type I collagen</td>
			<td>Beckton Dickinson</td>
			<td>354236</td>
			<td></td>
		 </tr>
		 <tr>
			<td>Waymouth's medium</td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>31220-023</td>
			<td></td>
		 </tr>
		</tbody>
 </table>

isolation and culture of mouse primary pancreatic acinar cells

This protocol permits rapid isolation (in less than 1 hr) of murine pancreatic acini, making it possible to maintain them in culture for more than one week. More than 20 x 106 acinar cells can be obtained from a single murine pancreas. This protocol offers the possibility to independently process as many as 10 pancreases in parallel. Because it preserves acinar architecture, this model is well suited for studying the physiology of the exocrine pancreas in vitro in contrast to cell lines established from pancreatic tumors, which display many genetic alterations resulting in partial or total loss of their acinar differentiation.

Figure 1 schematizes the "dispersed" acini method for primary acinar cells isolation. The critical steps, which have to be strictly respected during the protocol, are described in the discussion part.

	To facilitate its removal, the pancreas has to be collected from the abdomen along with the attached spleen (Figure 2). Both organs need to be cut apart, and the residual fat tissue that could be still attached to the pancreas must be removed (Step 1.6).
...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Isolation and Culture of Mouse Primary Pancreatic Acinar Cells at JoVE.com

Isolation and Culture of Mouse Primary Pancreatic Acinar Cells

In this publication, we describe a rapid and convenient procedure for isolating and culturing primary pancreatic acinar cells from the murine pancreas. This method constitutes a valuable approach to study the physiology of fresh primary normal/untransformed exocrine pancreatic cells.

This protocol permits rapid isolation (in less than 1 hr) of murine pancreatic acini, making it possible to maintain them in culture for more than one ...

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