Name: methods for the isolation, culture, and functional characterization of sinoatrial node myocytes from adult mice
Uploaded: 2016-10-23T14:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Methods for the Isolation, Culture, and Functional Characterization of Sinoatrial Node Myocytes from Adult Mice at JoVE.com

We thank Dr. Christian Rickert for critical reading of the manuscript. This work was supported by a grant from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (R01-HL088427) to CP. EJS was supported by 5T32-AG000279 from the National Institute on Aging. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

All animal procedures were performed in accordance with protocols approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. The standard protocol below has been optimized using male C57BL/6J mice of 2-3 months of age.
1. Prepare Solution Stocks and Supplies in Advance of Experiments
NOTE: Refer to Materials Table for necessary equipment and supplies.
<ol>
	<li>Prepare 1 L each of the followi...

<ol>
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D., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Complete+atrial-specific+knockout+of+sodium-calcium+exchange+eliminates+sinoatrial+node+pacemaker+activity.">Complete atrial-specific knockout of sodium-calcium exchange eliminates sinoatrial node pacemaker activity.</a> PloS ONE. 8 (11), e81633 (2013).</li><li>Torrente, A. G., Zhang, R., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Burst+pacemaker+activity+of+the+sinoatrial+node+in+sodium-calcium+exchanger+knockout+mice.">Burst pacemaker activity of the sinoatrial node in sodium-calcium exchanger knockout mice.</a> Proc Nat Acad Sci USA. 112 (31), 9769-9774 (2015).</li><li>Denyer, J. C., Brown, H. F. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Rabbit+sino-atrial+node+cells:+isolation+and+electrophysiological+properties.">Rabbit sino-atrial node cells: isolation and electrophysiological properties.</a> J Physiol. 428 (1), 405-424 (1990).</li><li>Thum, T., Borlak, J. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Butanedione+monoxime+increases+the+viability+and+yield+of+adult+cardiomyocytes+in+primary+cultures.">Butanedione monoxime increases the viability and yield of adult cardiomyocytes in primary cultures.</a> Cardiovasc Toxicol. 1 (1), 61-72 (2001).</li><li>Borlak, J., Zwadlo, C. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=The+myosin+ATPase+inhibitor+2,3-butanedione+monoxime+dictates+transcriptional+activation+of+ion+channels+and+Ca(2+)-handling+proteins.">The myosin ATPase inhibitor 2,3-butanedione monoxime dictates transcriptional activation of ion channels and Ca(2+)-handling proteins.</a> Molec Pharmacol. 66 (3), 708-717 (2004).</li></ol>

This paper presents detailed protocols for the isolation and culture of fully differentiated sinoatrial node myocytes from adult mice. The isolation protocol reliably produces spontaneously active mouse SAMs suitable for either immediate electrophysiological analysis or subsequent culture. Similar protocols have been reported by many other groups (for example, see references11,12,10,13-17). However, our protocol for maintaining adult mouse SAMs in vitro preserves the characteristic morphology, spontan...

Pacemaker myocytes in the sinoatrial node of the heart (sinoatrial myocytes, &#34;SAMs&#34;) generate spontaneous, rhythmic action potentials (APs) that propagate through the myocardium to initiate each heartbeat. Experiments using acutely isolated SAMs from many species have been essential for elucidation of mechanisms that contribute to the generation of pacemaker activity. SAMs are highly specialized cardiomyocytes that differ substantially from their counterparts in the atrial and ventricular myocardium in terms of morphology, function, and protein expression. The hallmark of spontaneous APs in SAMs is a spontaneous depolarization during diastole that drives the membrane potential to threshold to trigger the next AP1,2. This &#34;pacemaker potential&#34; depends on the coordinated activity of many different membrane currents including the &#34;funny current&#34; (If), T- and L-type calcium currents, and the sodium-calcium exchanger current (INCX), which is driven by Ca2+ release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum3,4.
While acutely isolated mouse SAMs are an essential experimental preparation for the study of pacemaking, the isolation of SAMs from mice can be a challenging method to adopt because the indistinct anatomy and small size of the mouse SAN requires a nuanced microdissection and the combined enzymatic and mechanical dissociation of the cells requires careful optimization.
We provide here a detailed video demonstration of a protocol that has been successfully used to isolate SAMs from adult mice for patch clamp recordings5-8. To our knowledge, there is no such visual demonstration available from any other source. In addition, a new method is demonstrated in which isolated SAMs from adult mice can be maintained in vitro for several days, thereby permitting the introduction of proteins, genetically encoded reporter molecules or RNAi via adenoviral infection9.

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="649">
	<tbody>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:247px;">Sylgruard/Elastomer Kit</td>
			<td style="width:167px;">Dow Corning</td>
			<td colspan="2" style="width:237px;">184 SIL ELAST KIT 0.5KG</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:247px;">Borosilicate 9&#34; pasteur pipettes</td>
			<td style="width:167px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>13-678-20C</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="40">
			<td height="40" style="height:40px;width:247px;">Small, round bottomed culture tubes</td>
			<td style="width:167px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">352059</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="40">
			<td height="40" style="height:40px;width:247px;">Large, round bottomed culture tubes</td>
			<td style="width:167px;">Corning</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">14-959-11B</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="40">
			<td height="40" style="height:40px;width:247px;">Elastase</td>
			<td style="width:167px;">Worthington Biochemical</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">LS002279</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:247px;">Liberase TM</td>
			<td style="width:167px;">Roche</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">5401119001</td>
			<td>&#160;Tissue dissociation solution</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="40">
			<td height="40" style="height:40px;width:247px;">Heparin</td>
			<td style="width:167px;">SAGENT Pharmaceuticals&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">NDC 25021-400-10</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:247px;">Mouse Laminin</td>
			<td style="width:167px;">Corning</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">CB-354232</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:247px;">12 mm round glass coverslips</td>
			<td style="width:167px;">Fisher&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">12-545-80</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:247px;">24-well culture plate</td>
			<td style="width:167px;">Fisher</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">08-772-1</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:247px;">Ad-mCherry</td>
			<td style="width:167px;">Vector Biolabs</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">1767</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:247px;">Ad-eGFP</td>
			<td style="width:167px;">Vector Biolabs</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">1060</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="40">
			<td height="40" style="height:40px;width:247px;">Plastic, disposable transfer pipette</td>
			<td style="width:167px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:175px;"></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:247px;">Micro scissors</td>
			<td style="width:167px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">17-467-496</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:247px;">Dumont #4 Forceps</td>
			<td style="width:167px;">Roboz Instruments</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">RS-4904</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:247px;">Tissue Forceps</td>
			<td style="width:167px;">Roboz Instruments</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">RS-8164</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:247px;">Dissecting Iris Scissors</td>
			<td style="width:167px;">WPI, Inc.</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">501264</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:247px;">Dissecting Pins</td>
			<td style="width:167px;">Fine Science Tools</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">26002-20</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;">NaCl</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>71376</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;">KCl</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>60128</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="26">
			<td height="26" style="height:26px;">KH2PO4</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>60353</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;">HEPES</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>54457</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;">glucose</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>G0350500</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="18">
			<td height="18" style="height:19px;">MgCl2</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>M8266</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="26">
			<td height="26" style="height:26px;">CaCl2</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>C1016</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;">taurine</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>T0625</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;">BSA</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>A2153</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;">K-glutamate</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>G1501</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;">K-aspartate</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>A6558</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="26">
			<td height="26" style="height:26px;">MgSO4</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>M7506</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;">creatine</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>C0780</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;">EGTA</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>E3889</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;">Mg-ATP</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>A9187</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:247px;">Amphotericin-B</td>
			<td style="width:167px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">1397-89-3</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:247px;">Isoproterenol</td>
			<td style="width:167px;">Calbiochem</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">420355</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:247px;">Media199</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">M4530</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="40">
			<td height="40" style="height:40px;width:247px;">2,3-butanedione monoxime (BDM)</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">B0753</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:247px;">Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS)</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">SH30071</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:247px;">Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA)</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">A5611</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:247px;">Insulin&#160;&#160;</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">I3146</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:247px;">Transferrin</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">I3146</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:247px;">Selenium</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">I3146</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;">Penicillin</td>
			<td>GE Healthcare</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">SV30010</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;">Streptomycin</td>
			<td>Hyclone</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">SV30010</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

methods for the isolation, culture, and functional characterization of sinoatrial node myocytes from adult mice

Sinoatrial node myocytes (SAMs) act as the natural pacemakers of the heart, initiating each heart beat by generating spontaneous action potentials (APs). These pacemaker APs reflect the coordinated activity of numerous membrane currents and intracellular calcium cycling. However the precise mechanisms that drive spontaneous pacemaker activity in SAMs remain elusive. Acutely isolated SAMs are an essential preparation for experiments to dissect the molecular basis of cardiac pacemaking. However, the indistinct anatomy, complex microdissection, and finicky enzymatic digestion conditions have prevented widespread use of acutely isolated SAMs. In addition, methods were not available until recently to permit longer-term culture of SAMs for protein expression studies. Here we provide a step-by-step protocol and video demonstration for the isolation of SAMs from adult mice. A method is also demonstrated for maintaining adult mouse SAMs in vitro and for expression of exogenous proteins via adenoviral infection. Acutely isolated and cultured SAMs prepared via these methods are suitable for a variety of electrophysiological and imaging studies.

The protocols described here have been previously employed to isolate spontaneously active SAMs from adult mice that are suitable for a variety of different patch clamp studies5-8. In addition, the protocols allow for isolated SAMs that can be maintained in culture for up to one week. Gene transfer into the cultured cells can be accomplished via adenoviral infection9. The results presented in this section derive from our previous work and are shown here as examples o...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Methods for the Isolation, Culture, and Functional Characterization of Sinoatrial Node Myocytes from Adult Mice at JoVE.com

Methods for the Isolation, Culture, and Functional Characterization of Sinoatrial Node Myocytes from Adult Mice

Methods are demonstrated for the isolation of sinoatrial node myocytes (SAMs) from adult mice for patch clamp electrophysiology or imaging studies. Isolated cells can be used directly or can be maintained in culture to permit expression of proteins of interest, such as genetically encoded reporters.

Sinoatrial node myocytes (SAMs) act as the natural pacemakers of the heart, initiating each heart beat by generating spontaneous action potentials (APs). ...

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Isolation and Genetic Manipulation of Adult Cardiac Myocytes for Confocal Imaging

Cardiac myocytes isolated from adult hearts are widely accepted as a model somewhere half way between embryonic and neonatal muscle cells on one side and ...

Isolation and Culture of Pulmonary Endothelial Cells from Neonatal Mice

Endothelial cells provide a useful research model in many areas of vascular biology. Since its first isolation 1, human umbilical vein endothelial cells ...

Isolation and Culture of Adult Epithelial Stem Cells from Human Skin

The homeostasis of all self-renewing tissues is dependent on adult stem cells. As undifferentiated stem cells undergo asymmetric divisions, they generate ...

Isolation and Culture of Individual Myofibers and their Satellite Cells from Adult Skeletal Muscle

Muscle  regeneration in the adult is performed by resident stem cells called satellite  cells. Satellite cells are defined by  their position between the ...

Isolation, Culture, and Functional Characterization of Adult Mouse Cardiomyoctyes

The use of primary cardiomyocytes (CMs) in culture has provided a powerful complement to murine models of heart disease in advancing our understanding of ...

Isolation and Culture of Dental Epithelial Stem Cells from the Adult Mouse Incisor

Understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie tooth regeneration and renewal has become a topic of great interest1-4, and the mouse ...

Isolation and Culture of Primary Mouse Keratinocytes from Neonatal and Adult Mouse Skin

The keratinocyte (KC) is the predominant cell type in the epidermis, the outermost layer of the skin. Epidermal KCs play a critical role in providing skin ...

Isolation, Characterization, and Differentiation of Cardiac Stem Cells from the Adult Mouse Heart

Myocardial infarction (MI) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality around the world. A major goal of regenerative medicine is to replenish the dead ...

Simultaneous Isolation and Culture of Atrial Myocytes, Ventricular Myocytes, and Non-Myocytes from an Adult Mouse Heart

The isolation and culturing of cardiac myocytes from mice has been essential for furthering the understanding of cardiac physiology and pathophysiology. ...