Name: quantitative visualization of leukocyte infiltrate in a murine model of fulminant myocarditis by light sheet microscopy
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Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Quantitative Visualization of Leukocyte Infiltrate in a Murine Model of Fulminant Myocarditis by Light Sheet Microscopy at JoVE.com

Research in the Gunzer laboratory was supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (grant no. 0315590 A-D) and by the German Research Foundation (grant no. GU769/4-1, GU769/4-2). We further thank the IMCES for technical support and Sebastian Kubat for help with 3D cartoon modeling.

All animal experiments were conducted in accordance with EU guidelines and were approved by the relevant local authorities in Essen (AZ 84-02.04.2014.A036 - Landesamt f&#252;r Natur, Umwelt und Verbraucherschutz Nordrhein-Westfalen, Essen, Germany). The animals were used and housed under specific pathogen-free (SPF) conditions.
1. Induction of Myocarditis by Diphtheria Toxin (DTX)
<ol>
	<li>Prepare the DTX solution for the induction of myocarditis by diluting the DTX stock solution with phos...

<ol>
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In modern life science, the microscopic visualization of biological processes plays an increasingly important role. In this context, many developments have been achieved during the last two centuries that help to answer questions not addressable up to this point, . First, there has been a clear tendency to fundamentally increase the resolution ability of light microscopes. With structured illumination microscopy (SIM)21,22, stimulated emission-depletion (STED) mi...

During the evolution of light microscopy, many specialized forms appeared, all of them developed to minimize limitations in the visualization process for particular specimens. One such method is light-sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM). First developed in 1903 by Siedentopf and Zsigmondy1 and finding its first fundamental biological applications in the early 1990s2, LSFM has become the most powerful microscopic tool to date for the visualization of large specimens, such as intact mouse organs, with a fluorescence signal resolution down to the cellular level. Because of these benefits, in combination with its potential for live-cell imaging, Nature Methods named LSFM the &#34;Method of the Year 20143.&#34;
As the name suggests, the sample illumination in an LSFM is conducted by light sheets, which are orientated perpendicularly to the axis of the objective used for emission-light collection and subsequent image formation. The light sheet is usually generated either by focusing wide, collimated laser beams with a cylindrical lens or by the rapid sideways movement of narrow, focused laser beams in just one horizontal or vertical plane4,5. In this way, only the focal plane of the imaging optics is illuminated, typically with a thickness of 1-4 &#181;m. Consequently, for a fluorescent sample placed in the illumination plane, both the generation of scattered light and the effects of photobleaching from regions above or below the focal plane are eliminated or greatly suppressed6,7. As all out-of-focus planes are not illuminated, photobleaching effects are omitted in these areas. In contrast to standard confocal or multi-photon microscopy, the paths of illuminated and emitted light are separate from each other, so the final image quality does not depend on the perfect focusing of the excitation light beam through the objectives. Depending on the underlying question, it is therefore possible to use objectives with an enormous field of view (FOV) so that the largest possible area of the illuminated plane can be imaged without any component parts moving in the xy-direction.
In modern LSFM systems, a fluorescent image of the generated optical section is captured on a highly sensitive charge-coupled device (CCD) or complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) cameras, which are able to acquire the entire field of view (FOV) in microseconds. Therefore, by moving the sample through the light sheet and by acquiring images at defined z-steps, it is possible to obtain the full 3D information of a specimen in a reasonable amount of time8,9, making this technique applicable for live-cell studies10,11,12.
Nevertheless, although LSFM offers a rapid, sensitive, and fluorescence-friendly method, light transmission through the specimen is still a major issue, especially when large biological samples are the target for a 3D analysis. Light transmission is critically modified by physical aspects of absorption and by light scattering at interfaces of structures with different refractive indices13. Therefore, when imaging samples several millimeters in size, LSFM is mostly combined with clearing protocols to render the samples optically transparent. These techniques are based on the idea of removing water from the respective biological tissue and exchanging it with water- or (organic) solvent-based immersion media, which are chosen to narrowly match the refractive indices of the particular target tissue components. As a result, lateral light scattering is minimized, and all wavelengths of light can much more efficiently pass through the tissue13. In many cases, biological specimens treated in this way appear macroscopically crystal-clear, which enables LSFM to be conducted, even on entire mouse organs, using long working-distance, low magnification objectives.
Here, we present a preparation protocol for large-sample imaging in a light-sheet microscope (see the table of materials), which we have established to investigate the cellular cardiac infiltrate in a murine model of myocarditis15. CD11c.DTR mice express the primate diphtheria toxin receptor (DTR) under the control of the CD11c promotor16. Consequently, cells in these mice, which express CD11c along with the DTR, are rendered sensitive to the exotoxin of Corynebacterium diphtheria (diphtheria toxin, DTX); the systemic treatment of these animals with DTX results in a depletion of all CD11c+ cells. CD11c is an integrin and, as a cell-surface receptor for a variety of different soluble factors, is involved in activation and maturation processes mainly in cells of the monocytic lineage17. Consequently, the CD11c.DTR mouse model has been intensively used to study the role of dendritic cells and macrophage subsets in the context of many different immunological questions. Over time, it has been reported that CD11c.DTR mice treated systemically with DTX can develop adverse side effects and can display strongly elevated mortality rates18,19. Recently, we were able to identify the underlying cause of death15, describing the development of fulminant myocarditis after intratracheal DTX application in these animals. The toxin challenge caused cellular destruction, including in central parts of the stimulus transmission system in the heart. This was accompanied by massive CD45+ leukocyte infiltrate, finally leading to lethal cardiac arrhythmias. In this case, not only was the appearance of the leukocyte population important, but also its spatial distribution inside the heart. This experimental question is a challenge for modern microscopic imaging, which we have solved by a light-sheet microscopy approach that is supported by intravital antibody staining and an organic solvent-based optical clearing protocol.

<table border="1" fo:keep-together.within-page="1" fo:keep-with-next.within-page="always">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>diphtheria toxin</td>
			<td>Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td>D0564</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>phosphate buffered saline</td>
			<td>Biochrom</td>
			<td>L182-10</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>ketamine [50 mg/ml]</td>
			<td>Inresa</td>
			<td>PZN 4089014</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>xylazine [2 %]</td>
			<td>Ceva</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>syringe</td>
			<td>Braun</td>
			<td>REF 9161502</td>
			<td>Braun Omincan F&#160;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>indwelt venous catheter&#160;</td>
			<td>Becton Dickinson</td>
			<td>REF 381923</td>
			<td>BD Insyte Autoguard</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>small animal respirator</td>
			<td>Harvard Apparatus</td>
			<td>73-0044</td>
			<td>MiniVent</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>anit-CD45 antibody (AF647)</td>
			<td>BioLegend</td>
			<td>103124</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) disodium salt dihydrate</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>8043.2</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>catheter (21 G)</td>
			<td>BD Biosciences</td>
			<td>REF 387455</td>
			<td>BD valu-set</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>paraformaldehyde</td>
			<td>Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td>P6148</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>PE tube (5 ml)</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>EKY9.1</td>
			<td>Rotilabo</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>ethanol</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>9065.4</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>dibenzyl ether</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>108014</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>tube rotator</td>
			<td>Miltenyi Biotec</td>
			<td>130-090-753</td>
			<td>MACSmix</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>agarose (low gelling)</td>
			<td>Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td>A4018</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>mold (15x15x5 mm)</td>
			<td>Tissue Tek</td>
			<td>4566</td>
			<td>Cryomold&#160;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>light sheet microscope system</td>
			<td>LaVision Biotec</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Ultramicroscope&#160;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>microscope body</td>
			<td>Olympus</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>MVX10&#160;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>objective</td>
			<td>Olympus</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>0.5&#160;NA MVPLAPO 2XC, WD 5.5&#160;mm&#160;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>sCMOS camera 5.5MP</td>
			<td>Andor Technology</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>488 nm OPSL (50mW) laser</td>
			<td>Coherent</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>647 nm&#160; diode laser (50mW)</td>
			<td>Coherent</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>3D image processing &#38; analysis software</td>
			<td>Bitplane</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>IMARIS Ver. 8.3</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>transgenic mouse strain</td>
			<td>Steffen Jung et al.</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>CD11c.DTR</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>wt mouse strain</td>
			<td>Envigo</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Balb/c Ola Hsd J</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Laser Module</td>
			<td>LaVision Biotec</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>MVPLAPO 2XC Objective Lens</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

quantitative visualization of leukocyte infiltrate in a murine model of fulminant myocarditis by light sheet microscopy

Light-sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM), in combination with chemical clearing protocols, has become the gold standard for analyzing fluorescently labelled structures in large biological specimens, and is down to cellular resolution. Meanwhile, the constant refinement of underlying protocols and the enhanced availability of specialized commercial systems enable us to investigate the microstructure of whole mouse organs and even allow for the characterization of cellular behavior in various live-cell imaging approaches. Here, we describe a protocol for the spatial whole-mount visualization and quantification of the CD45+ leukocyte population in inflamed mouse hearts. The method employs a transgenic mouse strain (CD11c.DTR)that has recently been shown to serve as a robust, inducible model for the study of the development of fulminant fatal myocarditis, characterized by lethal cardiac arrhythmias. This protocol includes myocarditis induction, intravital antibody-mediated cell staining, organ preparation, and LSFM with subsequent computer-assisted image post-processing. Although presented as a highly-adapted method for our particular scientific question, the protocol represents the blueprint of an easily adjustable system that can also target completely different fluorescent structures in other organs and even in other species.

The presented LSFM approach analyzes the leukocyte distribution and amount in murine hearts upon induction of severe myocarditis. Figure 1A explains the pre-treatment protocol for the transgenic CD11c.DTR mice for myocarditis induction. This step represents the necessary trigger for the recruitment of leukocytes to the myocardium. After successful DTX application, the animals develop severe disease symptoms, such as general weakness, anorexia, and weight loss within the r...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Quantitative Visualization of Leukocyte Infiltrate in a Murine Model of Fulminant Myocarditis by Light Sheet Microscopy at JoVE.com

Quantitative Visualization of Leukocyte Infiltrate in a Murine Model of Fulminant Myocarditis by Light Sheet Microscopy

Here, we describe a light-sheet microscopy approach to visualize the cardiac CD45+ leukocyte infiltrate in a murine model of aseptic fulminant myocarditis, which is induced by the intratracheal diphtheria toxin treatment of CD11c.DTR mice.

Light-sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM), in combination with chemical clearing protocols, has become the gold standard for analyzing fluorescently ...

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