Name: whole mount immunofluorescence and follicle quantification of cultured mouse ovaries
Uploaded: 2018-05-02T14:45:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Whole Mount Immunofluorescence and Follicle Quantification of Cultured Mouse Ovaries at JoVE.com

We thank Rebecca Williams and Johanna Dela Cruz from the Cornell BRC Imaging and Andrew Recknagel for helpful suggestions and technical assistance. This work was supported to National Institutes of Health grant S10-OD018516 (to Cornell&#39;s Imaging Facility), T32HD057854 to J.C.B. and R01-GM45415 to J.C.S.

Cornell University&#39;s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) has approved all the methods described here, under protocol 2004-0038 to JCS.
1. Preparation of Instruments and Culture Media
<ol>
	<li>Wipe the working area clean with 10% bleach and allow the bleach to remain on the work area surface for at least 5 min. After 5 min, remove the excess bleach with clean paper towels and 70% ethanol (EtOH). Clean the dissecting microscope thoroughly with 70% EtOH. 
	NOTE: It is ...

<ol>
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E., Bortvin, A. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=A+Whole-Mount+Approach+for+Accurate+Quantitative+and+Spatial+Assessment+of+Fetal+Oocyte+Dynamics+in+Mice.">A Whole-Mount Approach for Accurate Quantitative and Spatial Assessment of Fetal Oocyte Dynamics in Mice.</a> Biology of Reproduction. 93 (5), (2015).</li><li>Feng, Y., 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=CLARITY+reveals+dynamics+of+ovarian+follicular+architecture+and+vasculature+in+three-dimensions.">CLARITY reveals dynamics of ovarian follicular architecture and vasculature in three-dimensions.</a> Scientific Reports. 7, (2017).</li><li>Hama, H., 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=ScaleS:+an+optical+clearing+palette+for+biological+imaging.">ScaleS: an optical clearing palette for biological imaging.</a> Nature Neuroscience. 18 (10), 1518-1529 (2015).</li><li>Ke, M. -. 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The study of mammalian reproduction requires using and quantifying specialized cells that are not routinely amenable to cell culture. However, ex vivo culture systems are effective at maintaining ovary and follicle viability1,15. During ovary culture, the tissue requires a larger surface area for exchange of nutrients through diffusion. Therefore, 5-day old mouse ovaries are ideal in size and shape for organ culture. This protocol was optimized for ovari...

In order to study the cellular composition and morphological features of mammalian ovaries, scientists often rely on in vivo experiments followed by immunohistological staining of paraffin embedded ovaries. More recently though, whole ovary organ culture has proven to be an effective alternative to study ovarian function1,2,3,4 because the technique can be coupled with better visualization and quantification tools. Traditionally, analysis of ovarian morphology depends on reconstructing three-dimensional ovarian architecture from paraffin embedded serial sections, but, in addition to being laborious and time consuming, serially sectioning paraffin embedded tissue does not guarantee proper reconstruction of the organ, and sections are often lost or mis-ordered in the process.
In addition to the technical challenges associated with serial sectioning, there are also variations in the methods routinely used to quantify follicle numbers per ovary5,6. The methodological variability currently used impairs meta-analysis of ovarian reserve across studies5,7. For example, follicle numbers from different research articles can vary by 10-fold or more between similar developmental ages within a specific strain6. These large differences in reported follicle quantification can lead to confusion and have hindered cross-study comparisons. Experimentally, traditional approaches to follicle quantification from serial sections are performed by counting follicles of a pre-defined number of sections (e.g., every fifth, tenth, or other section). Variability in follicle counts using this approach arises not only from the periodicity in which sections are counted but also from variations in section thickness, and technical experience in generating serial sections5,6. In addition to its variability, another disadvantage of traditional tissue sectioning is that the sectioning of small ovaries from young animals is especially challenging and highly dependent on tissue orientation8.
The protocol below describes a routinely used ovary culture technique1 but greatly improves upon traditional follicle quantification by substituting physical sectioning with tissue clearing and optical sectioning using confocal microscopy8,9. Clearing using tissue immersion (without the need for transcranial perfusion or electrophoresis) in a urea- and sorbitol-based solution (e.g., ScaleS(0)10) proved compatible with the immunostaining and allowed for the reduction of clearing time without compromising depth of imaging. Other reported methods (e.g., ScaleA28,10, SeeDB11, ClearT12, and ClearT212) are either more time consuming or do not allow in-depth optical resolution of the sample. Optical sectioning is advantageous because it is less labor intensive and maintains the organ&#39;s three-dimensional architecture7,8. Another benefit of this approach is that preparation of the samples does not require costly reagents to clear the tissue and can be conducted with relative ease.
Specifically, the protocol described has been optimized for cultured mouse ovaries at postnatal day five but has been conducted on ovaries ranging from postnatal day 0 - 10. The method makes use of an ovary culture system in which the tissue naturally attaches to the membrane on which it is cultured, facilitating organ handling and manipulation. The culture system described can be used to maintain explanted ovaries for up to 10 days and to assess how different experimental conditions may interfere with oocyte survival13. The quantification procedure described is performed using the non-commercial image processing package FIJI-ImageJ14 and can be conducted on most personal computers. Furthermore, images used for quantification can be made widely available for the scientific community, thus allowing for future meta-analysis.

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="882">
	<tbody>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:341px;">Micro dissecting scissor 4.5&#34;, straight, sharp points</td>
			<td style="width:200px;">Roboz</td>
			<td style="width:117px;">RS-5912</td>
			<td style="width:224px;">Micro dissecting scissor</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Jewelers style forceps 4-3/8&#34;, style 5</td>
			<td>Integra Miltex</td>
			<td>17-305X</td>
			<td>Fine tip forceps</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Micro Iris Scissors 4&#34;, straight, sharp points</td>
			<td>Integra Miltex</td>
			<td>18-1618</td>
			<td>Micro dissecting iris scissor or micro dissecting spring scissor</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">1X Minimal Essential Media (MEM)</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>11090-081</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Fetal Bovine Serium</td>
			<td>Corning</td>
			<td>35011CV</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">HEPES (1M)</td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>15630080</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Antibiotic-Antimycotic (100X)</td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>15240062</td>
			<td>Used in Step 1.3.1</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">35mm Tissue Culture Treated Dish</td>
			<td>Corning</td>
			<td>430165</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="22">
			<td height="22" style="height:22px;">Nunc&#8482; 24-Well Carrier Plate for Cell Culture Inserts</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>141006</td>
			<td>Pore size: 8&#956;m</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="22">
			<td height="22" style="height:22px;">Paraformaldehyde (PFA)</td>
			<td>Electron Microscopy Sciences</td>
			<td>15710</td>
			<td>16% solution</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="22">
			<td height="22" style="height:22px;">1X Phosphate-Buffered Saline (PBS)</td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>10010023</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Nutator mixer GyroTwister&#8482;</td>
			<td>Labnet</td>
			<td>S1000-A-B</td>
			<td>three dimensional shaker</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="22">
			<td height="22" style="height:22px;">Normal Goat Serum</td>
			<td>VWR</td>
			<td>103219-578</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="22">
			<td height="22" style="height:22px;">Bovine Serum Albumen (BSA)</td>
			<td>VWR</td>
			<td>97061-416</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="22">
			<td height="22" style="height:22px;">Sodium Azide (NaN3)</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>S2002-25G</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Sodium borohydride solution (NaBH4)</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>452904-25ML</td>
			<td>Use the solution, rather than the tablet or powder form&#160;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA)</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>P8136-250G</td>
			<td>Cold water soluble</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Triton&#8482; X-100</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>93443-100ML</td>
			<td>polyethylene glycol tert-octylphenyl ether</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Syringe filters</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>725-2520</td>
			<td>25mm</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">10mL Syringes</td>
			<td>BD</td>
			<td>309695</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Mouse anti-p63 antibody (4A4)</td>
			<td>Biocare Medical</td>
			<td>CM 163A</td>
			<td>Dilution 1:500</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Rabbit anti-MVH antibody</td>
			<td>Abcam</td>
			<td>ab13840</td>
			<td>Dilution 1:600</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Alexa Fluor&#174; goat anti-mouse 594</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>A-11032</td>
			<td>Dilution 1:1000</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Alexa Fluor&#174; goat anti-rabbit 488</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>A-11034</td>
			<td>Dilution 1:1000</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">4,6-Diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI)&#160;</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>62248</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">D-(-)sorbitol&#160;</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>240850-100G</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Glycerol</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>G9012-100ML</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Urea</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>U5378-500G</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="25">
			<td height="25" style="height:25px;">Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>D2650-5X10ML</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">FIJI-ImageJ</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Image processing software</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="25">
			<td height="25" style="height:25px;">Disposable plastic transfer pipettes</td>
			<td>VWR</td>
			<td>414044-034</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

whole mount immunofluorescence and follicle quantification of cultured mouse ovaries

Research in the field of mammalian reproductive biology often involves evaluating the overall health of ovaries and testes. Specifically, in females, ovarian fitness is often assessed by visualizing and quantifying follicles and oocytes. Because the ovary is an opaque three-dimensional tissue, traditional approaches require laboriously slicing the tissue into numerous serial sections in order to visualize cells throughout the entire organ. Furthermore, because quantification by this method typically entails scoring only a subset of the sections separated by the approximate diameter of an oocyte, it is prone to inaccuracy. Here, a protocol is described that instead utilizes whole organ tissue clearing and immunofluorescence staining of mouse ovaries to visualize follicles and oocytes. Compared to more traditional approaches, this protocol is advantageous for visualizing cells within the ovary for numerous reasons: 1) the ovary remains intact throughout sample preparation and processing; 2) small ovaries, which are difficult to section, can be examined with ease; 3) cellular quantification is more readily and accurately achieved; and 4) the whole organ imaged.

This protocol includes 6 major steps following dissection of the ovaries, as outlined in Figure 1. Figure 2, Figure 3, Figure 4 highlight the most novel features of this protocol, which include optimization of tissue clearing for ovaries and whole tissue oocyte quantification using FIJI-ImageJ. Figur...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Whole Mount Immunofluorescence and Follicle Quantification of Cultured Mouse Ovaries at JoVE.com

Whole Mount Immunofluorescence and Follicle Quantification of Cultured Mouse Ovaries

Here, we present a protocol to quantify follicles in cultured ovaries of young mice without serial sectioning. Using whole organ immunofluorescence and tissue clearing, physical sectioning is replaced with optical sectioning. This method of sample preparation and visualization maintains organ integrity and facilitates automated quantification of specific cells.

Research in the field of mammalian reproductive biology often involves evaluating the overall health of ovaries and testes. Specifically, in females, ...

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