Name: constitutive and inducible systems for genetic in vivo modification of mouse hepatocytes using hydrodynamic tail vein injection
Uploaded: 2018-02-02T13:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Constitutive and Inducible Systems for Genetic In Vivo Modification of Mouse Hepatocytes Using Hydrodynamic Tail Vein Injection at JoVE.com

This work was supported by Deutsche Krebshilfe, Germany (grant number 111289 to UE), the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children&#39;s Health (Ernest and Amelia Gallo Endowed Postdoctoral Fellowship - CTSA grant number UL1 RR025744 to UE). We thank Dr Mark A. Kay for vector constructs and experimental advice and Dr Julien Sage for mice and experimental support.

All animal experiments were performed according to the guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals and were approved by responsible authorities (Regierung von Oberbayern, Munich, Germany and Stanford Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, Stanford, CA, USA). A list of all plasmids for cloning (step 1 through 4) is provided in supplementary table S1.
1. Cloning of a Transgene for Constitutive Gene Expression
<ol>
	<li>Design primers for transgene amplification<sup class="xref"...

Transfection of hepatocytes with hydrodynamic tail vein injection has become an established method since its introduction more than 15 years ago6. The injected volume exceeds cardiac output and flows from the inferior vena cava into the sinusoids of the liver7, leading to transfection of about 10-20%, in some cases up to 40% of hepatocytes25,26. Predictors of a successful transfection are the injected volume per inj...

Chronic liver disease presents a major health burden worldwide1. Animal research models are essential tools in the study of liver disease and have helped to answer complex questions in liver regeneration, hepatic inflammation, and steatosis as well as liver cancer2. A substantial number of these animal models rely on the genetic modification of liver cells. Therefore, efficient tools to manipulate gene expression in hepatocytes are helpful3. Established methods such as the breeding of genetically engineered mouse strains or the generation of viral vectors for hepatocyte infection are either time consuming, harbor safety concerns, or yield poor transgene expression in hepatocytes in vivo4,5. Hydrodynamic tail vein injection (HTVI) is an alternative method for in vivo transfection of hepatocytes allowing for easy, fast, and cost-efficient interrogation of gene function in the liver. For HTVI, a vector carrying the desired DNA sequence is dissolved in a volume of saline corresponding to 10% of the body weight of the injected animal. The solution is then injected into the tail vein within 5-10 s6. Exceeding cardiac output, the saline flows from the inferior vena cava into the liver veins, leading to expansion of the liver and hydrodynamic transfection of hepatocytes7. To achieve stable genomic integration, the method has been combined with transposon-based vectors, such as the sleeping beauty-transposon system. This systems mediates the recombination of target vectors with genomic recombination sites catalyzed by a sleeping beauty-transposase8,9. For models of liver fibrosis or carcinogenesis, it is often desirable to overexpress or silence genes at certain time points of the disease model. For this purpose, tools for inducible gene expression such as the Cre/LoxP-system or the tetracycline-inducible gene expression system (Tet-On) may be used10.
Here, we describe a protocol for in vivo transfection of murine hepatocytes using HTVI of a sleeping beauty transposon-based system. In addition to a protocol for stable, constitutive expression of a transgene under the control of a liver-specific promoter, we describe a more advanced vector system that combines constitutive tamoxifen-dependent Cre recombinase (CreER) expression with the inducible expression of a transgene or microRNA-adapted shRNA (miR-shRNA), called the pTC TET-system11. In this vector system, inducible transgenes or miR-shRNAs for tetracycline-dependent expression are cloned into the backbone vector with a recombinational cloning system, allowing the fast and easy generation of new vectors12. This video-based guide covers the preparation of suitable vectors, injection and treatment of mice to achieve inducible transgene/miR-shRNA expression, and finally preparation of liver tissue for analysis. The method described in this protocol was designed to enable the combination of any Cre/loxP mediated mouse system with the expression or knock-down of any gene of choice, making it a widely applicable system in research of liver disease.

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>General Material</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>GeneRuler 1 kb Plus DNA Ladder</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher</td>
			<td>#SM1331</td>
			<td>DNA ladder for electrophoresis</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Tissue-Tek O.C.T.</td>
			<td>Sakura</td>
			<td>4583</td>
			<td>embedding of cryo-sections</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Biozym LE Agarose</td>
			<td>Biozym</td>
			<td>840004</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ethidium bromide</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>E7637-1G</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>D(+)-Saccharose</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>4621.1</td>
			<td>For sweetening of the doxycyline solution</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ampicillin Sodium Salt</td>
			<td>AppliChem</td>
			<td>A0839,0010</td>
			<td>For selection of Amp-resistant clones</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>LB Agar (Luria/Miller)</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>X969.1</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>LB Broth (Luria/Miller)</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>X968.1</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>S.O.C. Medium</td>
			<td>Thermo Fischer</td>
			<td>15544034</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Gentamicin sulfate</td>
			<td>AppliChem</td>
			<td>A1492,0001</td>
			<td>For selection of Gentamicin-resistant clones</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Roti-Histofix 4 %</td>
			<td>Fa. Roth</td>
			<td>P087.6</td>
			<td>para-formaldehyde solution</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>T4 DNA Ligase</td>
			<td>New England BioLabs</td>
			<td>M0202S</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>GatewayTM LR ClonaseTM II Enzyme Mix</td>
			<td>invitrogen/ThermoFisher</td>
			<td>11791-020</td>
			<td>contains LR-clonase enzyme mix II and proteinase K</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>DB3.1 Competent Cells</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher</td>
			<td>11782-018</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Stbl3 Chemically Competent E. coli</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher</td>
			<td>C737303</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Name</td>
			<td>Company</td>
			<td>Catalog Number</td>
			<td>Comments</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Restriction Enzymes</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>PacI</td>
			<td>New England BioLabs</td>
			<td>R0547S</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>AscI</td>
			<td>New England BioLabs</td>
			<td>R0558S</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>FseI</td>
			<td>New England BioLabs</td>
			<td>R0588S</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>SacI</td>
			<td>New England BioLabs</td>
			<td>R0156S</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>SpeI</td>
			<td>New England BioLabs</td>
			<td>R0133S</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>KpnI</td>
			<td>New England BioLabs</td>
			<td>R0142S</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>NotI</td>
			<td>New England BioLabs</td>
			<td>R0189S</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>XhoI</td>
			<td>New England BioLabs</td>
			<td>R0146S</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>BfuAI</td>
			<td>New England BioLabs</td>
			<td>R0701S</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Name</td>
			<td>Company</td>
			<td>Catalog Number</td>
			<td>Comments</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Kits</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>QIAquick Gel Extraction Kit</td>
			<td>Qiagen</td>
			<td>28704</td>
			<td>For DNA Extraction from gel</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>NucleoSpin Gel and PCR Clean Up</td>
			<td>Macherey &#38; Nagel</td>
			<td>740609.10</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>NucleoBond PC20</td>
			<td>Macherey &#38; Nagel</td>
			<td>740571</td>
			<td>Plasmid extraction (Mini prep)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>NucleoBond PC500</td>
			<td>Macherey &#38; Nagel</td>
			<td>740574</td>
			<td>Plasmid extraction (Maxi prep)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Phusion High-Fidelity DNA Polymerase</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher</td>
			<td>F530S</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Name</td>
			<td>Company</td>
			<td>Catalog Number</td>
			<td>Comments</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Materials for Mouse Experiments</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Injekt Syringe F 1 ml</td>
			<td>Braun</td>
			<td>9166017V</td>
			<td>For intraperitoneal injection</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Omnifix Luer 3 ml</td>
			<td>Braun</td>
			<td>4616025V</td>
			<td>For intravenous injection</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sterican Cannula 24G</td>
			<td>Braun</td>
			<td>4657675</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sterican Cannula 27G</td>
			<td>Braun</td>
			<td>4657705</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Tamoxifen</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>T5648-1G</td>
			<td>For CreER activation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Corn oil</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>C8267-500ML</td>
			<td>Carrier for tamoxifen injections</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Doxycycline hyclate</td>
			<td>AppliChem</td>
			<td>A2951,0025</td>
			<td>Activation of tetracycline-dependent expression</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Injekt 10 ml Syringe</td>
			<td>Braun</td>
			<td>4606108V</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Filtropur S 0.2</td>
			<td>Sarstedt</td>
			<td>831,826,001</td>
			<td>For filtration of doxycycline</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>NaCl 0,9%</td>
			<td>Braun</td>
			<td>3200905</td>
			<td>Carrier for intravenous injections</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Falcon Conical Tube 50ml</td>
			<td>Corning Life Science</td>
			<td>352095</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Infrared Lamp</td>
			<td>N/A</td>
			<td>N/A</td>
			<td>For warming of mouse tail</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>IVIS</td>
			<td>Perkin Elmer</td>
			<td>124262</td>
			<td>In vivo imaging system</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Name</td>
			<td>Company</td>
			<td>Catalog Number</td>
			<td>Comments</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Plasmids for cloning of sleeping beauty-transposon vectors for HTVI.</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>pTC</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>n/a</td>
			<td>Vector for constitutive gene expression, ref. 15</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>pEN_TTmcs</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Addgene #25755</td>
			<td>Entry vector for inducible gene expression, ref. 19</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>pEN_TTGmiRc2</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Addgene #25753</td>
			<td>Entry vector for inducible miR-shRNA expression with co-expression of GFP, ref. 19</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>pEN_TTmiRc2</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Addgene #25752</td>
			<td>Entry vector for inducible miR-shRNA expression without co-expression of GFP, ref. 19</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>pTC ApoE-Tet</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Addgene #85578</td>
			<td>Expression vector for inducible gene or miR-shRNA expression with ApoE.HCR.hAAT promotor, ref. 11</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>pTC-CMV-Tet</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Addgene #85577</td>
			<td>Expression vector for inducible gene or miR-shRNA expression with CMV promotor, ref. 11</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

constitutive and inducible systems for genetic in vivo modification of mouse hepatocytes using hydrodynamic tail vein injection

In research models of liver cancer, regeneration, inflammation, and fibrosis, flexible systems for in vivo gene expression and silencing are highly useful. Hydrodynamic tail vein injection of transposon-based constructs is an efficient method for genetic manipulation of hepatocytes in adult mice. In addition to constitutive transgene expression, this system can be used for more advanced applications, such as shRNA-mediated gene knock-down, implication of the CRISPR/Cas9 system to induce gene mutations, or inducible systems. Here, the combination of constitutive CreER expression together with inducible expression of a transgene or miR-shRNA of choice is presented as an example of this technique. We cover the multi-step procedure starting from the preparation of sleeping beauty-transposon constructs, to the injection and treatment of mice, and the preparation of liver tissue for analysis by immunostaining. The system presented is a reliable and efficient approach to achieve complex genetic manipulations in hepatocytes. It is specifically useful in combination with Cre/loxP-based mouse strains and can be applied to a variety of models in the research of liver disease.

Transfection efficacy by hydrodynamic tail vein injection: The percentage of murine hepatocytes that are transfected hydrodynamically by a single injection is variable and depends on multiple parameters such as injection volume, injection time, amount of injected DNA, and size of the injected construct6,22,23. Additionally, the transfection efficiency is generally lower in larger...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Constitutive and Inducible Systems for Genetic In Vivo Modification of Mouse Hepatocytes Using Hydrodynamic Tail Vein Injection at JoVE.com

Constitutive and Inducible Systems for Genetic In Vivo Modification of Mouse Hepatocytes Using Hydrodynamic Tail Vein Injection

Hydrodynamic tail vein injection of transposon-based integration vectors enables stable transfection of murine hepatocytes in vivo. Here, we present a practical protocol for transfection systems that enables the long-term constitutive expression of a single transgene or combined constitutive and doxycycline-inducible expression of a transgene or miR-shRNA in the liver.

Constitutive and Inducible Systems for Genetic In Vivo Modification of Mouse Hepatocytes Using Hydrodynamic Tail Vein Injection

In research models of liver cancer, regeneration, inflammation, and fibrosis, flexible systems for in vivo gene expression and silencing are highly ...

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