Name: isolation of dendritic cells from the human female reproductive tract for phenotypical and functional studies
Uploaded: 2018-03-13T15:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Isolation of Dendritic Cells from the Human Female Reproductive Tract for Phenotypical and Functional Studies at JoVE.com

Study supported by NIH grants AI102838 and AI117739 (CRW). We thank Richard Rossoll for technical assistance. Flow cytometric analysis was carried out in DartLab, the Shared Resource at Dartmouthsupported by (P30CA023108-37) and (P30GM103415-15).

Studies involving human subjects were conducted according to the principles expressed in the Declaration of Helsinki. Studies were approved by Dartmouth College Institutional Review Board and the Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects (CPHS). Written informed consent was obtained before surgery from HIV-negative women undergoing hysterectomies at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (Lebanon, NH). Trained pathologists selected tissue samples from the EM, CX, and ECX, free of pathological lesions and distant from th...

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Mucosal DCs are a rare cell population strongly influenced by the tissue environment, which changes their phenotype and function once they enter the tissues3. While blood derived DCs are a very useful model, they do not fully represent the diversity of DC populations found in tissues. Therefore, to understand the unique characteristics of mucosal DCs, isolation of primary cells from tissues is necessary. Isolation of DCs from different anatomical sites in the FRT offers the opportunity to study DC...

The FRT has the dual function of protecting against pathogens while allowing implantation and pregnancy1. To accomplish this, the FRT is compartmentalized, with each anatomical region displaying unique histological, immunological, and functional characteristics1.
DCs present at mucosal surfaces make contact with microbes in the lung, the gut, and the genital tract, and provide immune surveillance for potential pathogens2. DCs have the unique ability to prime na&#239;ve T-cells and trigger adaptive immune responses3. DCs in the FRT are also specialized to tolerate foreign antigens, such as those found in sperm and the developing fetus, to allow successful pregnancy4. Therefore, depending on the location, the DC phenotype and function will be distinct. It is known that DCs are strongly influenced by the tissue environment, such that their number, phenotype, and functions are modified by the tissue environment in which they reside3. Therefore, to understand the role that FRT DCs play in infectious diseases, pregnancy, and cancer in the FRT, resident DCs need to be studied, since blood derived DC models are inadequate to address the regulatory complexities found in FRT tissues.
The characterization of human tissue resident DCs is challenging due to the low numbers of cells present in mucosal tissues and the difficulty obtaining human tissue samples. DCs have been studied in the FRT using immunohistochemistry5,6, which informs about the cell location within the tissue, but precludes functional studies, and is limited in the number of identifying cell markers that can be analyzed at once. Moreover, single cell isolation protocols for flow cytometric analysis have been developed7,8,9. Some of these protocols take advantage of the migratory capacity of DCs to isolate those cells that migrate. These methods usually require overnight incubations and selection of activated DCs, but do not allow for the study of DCs in the steady state.
Here, using hysterectomy specimens, we optimized a protocol to isolate DCs from different anatomical sites in the FRT, the endometrium (EM), the endocervix (CX), and the ectocervix (ECX), that enables both phenotypical and functional analyses. Using a non-proteolytic enzymatic digestion protocol, we can proceed immediately after tissue digestion to cell isolation and flow cytometric characterization without cell activation. Using multicolor flow cytometry and adapting functional studies for low numbers of cells, we can identify and characterize rare subsets of DCs in the different sites of the FRT.

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			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:273px;">Hank&#39;s Balanced Salt Solution (HBSS)</td>
			<td style="width:203px;">Hyclone</td>
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			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">HEPES (1M)</td>
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			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>C5138</td>
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			<td>Sigma Aldritch</td>
			<td>50-99-7</td>
			<td></td>
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			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">0.22 um Stericup 500 mL&#160; filter</td>
			<td>Millipore</td>
			<td>SCGPU05RE</td>
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			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">100mm x 15mm polystyrene petri dish</td>
			<td>Fisherbrand</td>
			<td>FB0875712</td>
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			<td>Treated cell culture dish</td>
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			<td height="25" style="height:25px;">Isotemp Incubator</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>FICO3500TABB</td>
			<td>5.0% CO2</td>
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			<td>American DADE</td>
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			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">250 um nylon mesh</td>
			<td>Sefar</td>
			<td>03-250/50</td>
			<td></td>
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		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">20 um nylon mesh</td>
			<td>Sefar</td>
			<td>03-20/14</td>
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		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Beckman GS-6R Centrifuge</td>
			<td>Beckman</td>
			<td>358702</td>
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		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">X-VIVO 15 with Gentamicin L-Gln, Phenol Red, 1 L</td>
			<td>Lonza</td>
			<td>04-418Q</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Human AB Serum</td>
			<td>Valley Biomedical</td>
			<td>HP1022</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Histopaque-1077</td>
			<td>Sigma Aldritch</td>
			<td>10771</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Phosphate Buffer Solution (PBS)</td>
			<td>National Diagnostics</td>
			<td>CL-253</td>
			<td>pH 7.4</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Dead Cell Removal Kit</td>
			<td>Miltenyi Biotec</td>
			<td>130-090-101</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Pre-separation filter (30um)</td>
			<td>Miltenyi Biotec</td>
			<td>130-041-407</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">LS column</td>
			<td>Miltenyi Biotec</td>
			<td>130-042-410</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Quadro MACS Separator</td>
			<td>Miltenyi Biotec</td>
			<td>130-090-976</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">MACS multi-stand</td>
			<td>Miltenyi Biotec</td>
			<td>130-042-303</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">EDTA</td>
			<td>USB</td>
			<td>15694</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">CD1a Microbeads, human</td>
			<td>Miltenyi Biotec</td>
			<td>130-051-001</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">CD14 Microbeads, human</td>
			<td>Miltenyi Biotec</td>
			<td>130-050-201</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">eFluor 670 cell proliferation dye</td>
			<td>eBiosciences</td>
			<td>65-0840-85</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">96 well round bottom plate</td>
			<td>Falcon</td>
			<td>9/8/2866</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Zombie yellow viability dye</td>
			<td>Biolegend</td>
			<td>423104</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">CD3 APC/Cy7, anti-human</td>
			<td>Tonbo Biosciences</td>
			<td>25-0038-T100</td>
			<td></td>
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		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">CD4 PE, anti-human</td>
			<td>eBiosciences</td>
			<td>12-0048-42</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">CD8a FITC, anti-human</td>
			<td>Tonbo Biosciences</td>
			<td>35-0086-T100</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Gallios Flow Cytometer</td>
			<td>Beckman Coulter Life Sciences</td>
			<td>B43618</td>
			<td>10 color, VBR</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">MACSquant Analyzer 10</td>
			<td>Miltenyi Biotec</td>
			<td>130-096-343</td>
			<td>8 color, VBR</td>
		</tr>
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isolation of dendritic cells from the human female reproductive tract for phenotypical and functional studies

The characterization of the human dendritic cells (DCs) resident in mucosal tissues is challenging due to the difficulty in obtaining samples, and the low numbers of DCs present per tissue. Yet, as the phenotype and function of DCs is modified by the tissue environment, it is necessary to analyze tissue resident DC populations, since blood derived DCs incompletely reflect the complexities of DCs in tissues. Here we present a protocol to isolate DCs from the human female reproductive tract (FRT) using hysterectomy specimens that allows both phenotypical and functional analyses. The protocol consists of tissue digestion to generate a single cell mixed cell suspension, followed by positive magnetic bead selection. Our tissue digestion protocol does not cleave surface markers, which allows phenotypical and functional analysis of DCs in the steady state, without overnight incubation or cell activation. This protocol can be adapted for the isolation of other immune cell types or isolation of DCs from other tissues.

Following tissue digestion, the release of epithelial sheets and glands can be observed, as shown in Figure 1A; this is a positive control that indicates the enzymatic digestion was successful. The number of total viable cells and DCs recovered per gram of tissue are also shown in Figure 1B and Figure 1C, respectively. Immune cells represent between 5-30% of the stromal cells prior to density centrif...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Isolation of Dendritic Cells from the Human Female Reproductive Tract for Phenotypical and Functional Studies at JoVE.com

Isolation of Dendritic Cells from the Human Female Reproductive Tract for Phenotypical and Functional Studies

We describe here a method to isolate and purify dendritic cells from different anatomical compartments in the human female reproductive tract for the evaluation of their phenotypical and functional characteristics. This method can be adapted to isolate other immune cells or dendritic cells from other mucosal tissues.

The characterization of the human dendritic cells (DCs) resident in mucosal tissues is challenging due to the difficulty in obtaining samples, and the low ...

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