Name: assessment of lymphocyte migration in an ex vivo transmigration system
Uploaded: 2019-09-20T14:30:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Assessment of Lymphocyte Migration in an Ex Vivo Transmigration System at JoVE.com

This work was funded by the American Lung Association (K.J.W.), the Memorial Eugene Kenney fund awarded to T.A.W. and K.J.W., generous start-up support from the University of Utah for K.J.W., and a Department of Veterans Affairs award to T.A.W. (VA I01BX0003635). T.A.W. is the recipient of a Research Career Scientist Award (IK6 BX003781) from the Department of Veterans Affairs. The authors wish to acknowledge editorial assistance from Ms. Lisa Chudomelka. The authors thank the UNMC Flow Cytometry core for their support in collecting the flow cytometry data generated for this manuscript.

All methods described here were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) and the University of Utah.
1. Setup and Preparation of Reagents
<ol>
	<li>Prepare complete RPMI (Roswell Park Memorial Institute) media.
	<ol>
		<li>Add 10 mL of heat-inactivated fetal bovine serum (FBS) to 90 mL of RPMI.</li>
		<li>Add 1 mL of 100x Penicillin-Streptomycin-Glutamine to 100 mL of 10% FBS RPMI.</li>
	</o...

<ol>
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Herein, we present a well-established method for assessing chemokine-induced migration of lymphocytes in an ex vivo transmigration system. There are several critical steps in the protocol, the first of which is verifying the expression of the correct chemokine receptor on the immune cells in the experiment. In our hands, we chose CCR4 because of the body of literature that highlights the importance of CCR4 on Th2 helper T cells in allergic inflammation. Ovalbumin-induced inflammation was shown previously to be limited by...

This original transmigration method was presented by Stephen Boyden in 1962 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine1. Much of what we know about chemotaxis and chemokinetics would not be possible without the development of the Boyden chamber. Prior to the discovery of the first chemokine in 1977, ex vivo transmigration systems were used to learn about serum-factors that could arrest cellular movement in macrophages while amplifying cellular motility in neutrophils1,2. A massive wealth of knowledge has been developed regarding immune cell migration, and to date, 47 chemokines have now been discovered with 19 corresponding receptors3,4. In addition, multitudes of inhibitors/enhancers of these chemokine pathways have undergone development for therapeutic purposes5,6,7,8. Many of those compounds have been tested in similar transmigration chambers to understand direct interactions between the compounds and immune cell responsiveness to a given chemokine9.
Transmigration, or diapedesis, into inflamed tissue is an essential process to a healthy inflammatory response to clear infection10,11. A Boyden chamber, transmigration system, or transwell apparatus are generally composed of two chambers separated by a porous membrane1,12. The bottom chamber most often holds media containing the chemokine of interest, while leukocytes are placed in the top chamber. The size of the pore in the membrane can be selected based on the size of the cell of interest. For this project, we selected a 3 &#181;m porous membrane, as lymphoid cells are 7-20 &#181;m in size, depending on the stage of cellular development. This pore size ensures that these cells are not passively falling through the pores, but that they are actively migrating in response to the chemokine gradient.
The major advantage of this protocol is its cost effectiveness. In vivo transmigration is difficult because it requires extensive training in animal handling and surgery, and often involves high-powered microscopy that is not always available to a researcher. Cost effective screening of compounds thought to enhance or inhibit transmigration can be accomplished in advance of in vivo imaging. Because the transmigration system is tightly controlled, cells may be treated initially then added to the transwell apparatus, or, vice versa, the chemokine may be treated first with a chemokine inhibitor then cells added to the transwell apparatus. Lastly, endothelial cells and/or basement membrane proteins can be added to the bottom of the transwell insert 1-2 days prior to the transmigration experiment to understand the involvement of these barrier cells in chemokinetics. Again, these manipulations of the system provide a powerful means of determining important information about the effectiveness of a given compound in advance of more complicated in vivo studies.
Utilizing a transmigration chamber system is an effective way to assess lymphocyte mobility under various in vivo and in vitro conditions12,13,14. Herein, we describe an optimized method for assessing ex vivo lymphocyte responsiveness to chemokines in a transmigration chamber. In this example experiment, CD4+ T cells and group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2) were isolated from male and female, BALB/c mice following OVA-allergen exposure. A hypothesis was generated that CCR4+ CD45+ Lineage- (LIN-) ILC2 from allergen-challenged mice would migrate more efficiently towards CCL17 and CCL22 than CCR4+ CD4+ T helper cells. CCL17 and CCL22 are chemokines commonly produced by dendritic cells and macrophages of the M2 (allergic) phenotype, among other cells, in allergy15,16. CCL17 and CCL22 can be thought of as biomarkers of allergic inflammation as they are readily detected in the lungs during airway exacerbations16,17,18. Importantly, CCR4 expression is elevated in comparison to untreated controls, as revealed in bioinformatic data generated from ILC2 isolated from house dust mite treated animals, and similarly ILC2 from na&#239;ve animals treated ex vivo with IL-33 (allergen-promoting innate cytokine) upregulates CCR419,20. Furthermore, according to data for ILC2 in the Immunological Genome Project database (www.immgen.org), CCR4 mRNA is highly expressed in these innate immune cells. To date, little is known regarding trafficking of ILC2 into tissues, but it is likely that the ILC2 and CD4+ T cells use similar chemokines and receptors for chemotaxis and chemokinetics as they express similar transcription factors and receptors. Thus, we compared CCL17 versus CCL22 responsiveness, of ILC2 and CD4+ T lymphocytes, from both male and female, OVA-challenged animals.

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>0.4% Trypan Blue</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>15250061</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>1 mL syringe</td>
			<td>BD Bioscience</td>
			<td>329424</td>
			<td>U-100 Syringes Micro-Fine 28G 1/2&#34; 1cc</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>100x Penicillin-Streptomycin, L-Glutamine</td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>10378-016</td>
			<td>Dilute to 1x in RPMI media</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>15 mL conical tubes</td>
			<td>Olympus Plastics</td>
			<td>28-101</td>
			<td>polypropylene tubes</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>3 um transwell inserts</td>
			<td>Genesee Scientific</td>
			<td>25-288</td>
			<td>24-well plate containing 12 transwell inserts</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>3x stabilizing fixative</td>
			<td>BD Pharmigen</td>
			<td>338036</td>
			<td>Prepare 1x solution according to manufacturers protocol</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>5 mL polystyrene tubes</td>
			<td>STEM Cell Technologies</td>
			<td>38007</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>50 mL conical tubes</td>
			<td>Olympus Plastics</td>
			<td>28-106</td>
			<td>polypropylene tubes</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>8-chamber easy separation magnet</td>
			<td>STEM Cell Technologies</td>
			<td>18103</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>ACK Lysing Buffer</td>
			<td>Life Technologies Corporation</td>
			<td>A1049201</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Advanced cell strainer, 40 um</td>
			<td>Genesee Scientific</td>
			<td>25-375</td>
			<td>nylon mesh, 40 micron strainers</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Aluminum Hydroxide, Reagent Grade</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>239186-25G</td>
			<td>20 mg/mL</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>anti- mouse CCR4; APC-conjugated</td>
			<td>Biolegend</td>
			<td>131211</td>
			<td>0.5 ug/test</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>anti-mouse CD11b</td>
			<td>BD Pharmigen</td>
			<td>557396</td>
			<td>0.5 ug/test</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>anti-mouse CD11c; PE eFluor 610</td>
			<td>Thermo-Fischer Scientific</td>
			<td>61-0114-82</td>
			<td>0.25 ug/test</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>anti-mouse CD16/32, Fc block</td>
			<td>BD Pharmigen</td>
			<td>553141</td>
			<td>0.5 ug/test</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>anti-mouse CD19; APC-eFluor 780 conjugated</td>
			<td>Thermo-Fischer Scientific</td>
			<td>47-0193-82</td>
			<td>0.5 ug/test</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>anti-mouse CD3; PE Cy 7-conjugated</td>
			<td>BD Pharmigen</td>
			<td>552774</td>
			<td>0.25 ug/test</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>anti-mouse CD45; PE conjugated</td>
			<td>BD Pharmigen</td>
			<td>56087</td>
			<td>0.5 ug/test</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>anti-mouse ICOS (CD278)</td>
			<td>BD Pharmigen</td>
			<td>564070</td>
			<td>0.5 ug/test</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>anti-mouse NK1.1 (CD161); FITC-conjugated</td>
			<td>BD Pharmigen</td>
			<td>553164</td>
			<td>0.25 ug/test</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>anti-mouse ST2 (IL-33R); PerCP Cy5.5 conjugated</td>
			<td>Biolegend</td>
			<td>145311</td>
			<td>0.5 ug/test</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Automated Cell Counter</td>
			<td>BIORAD</td>
			<td>1450102</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Automated Dissociator</td>
			<td>MACS Miltenyi Biotec</td>
			<td>130-093-235</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Bovine Serum Albumin, Lyophilized Powder</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>A2153-10G</td>
			<td>0.5% in serum-free RPMI</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Cell Counter Clides</td>
			<td>BIORAD</td>
			<td>1450015</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Chicken Egg Ovalbumin, Grade V</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>A5503-10G</td>
			<td>500 ug/mL</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Collagenase, Type 1, Filtered</td>
			<td>Worthington Biochemical Corporation</td>
			<td>CLSS-1, purchase as 5 X 50 mg vials (LS004216)</td>
			<td>25 U/mL in RPMI</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>compensation beads</td>
			<td>Affymetrix</td>
			<td>01-1111-41</td>
			<td>1 drop per contol tube</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Dissociation Tubes</td>
			<td>MACS Miltenyi Biotec</td>
			<td>130-096-335</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>FACS Buffer</td>
			<td>BD Pharmigen</td>
			<td>554657</td>
			<td>1x PBS + 2% FBS, w/ sodium azide; stored at 4 &#176;C</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Heat Inactivated-FBS</td>
			<td>Genesee Scientific</td>
			<td>25-525H</td>
			<td>10% in complete RPMI &#38; ILC2 Expansion Media</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>mouse CCL17</td>
			<td>GenScript</td>
			<td>Z02954-20</td>
			<td>50 ng/mL</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>mouse CCL22</td>
			<td>GenScript</td>
			<td>Z02856-20</td>
			<td>50 ng/mL</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>mouse CD4+ T cell enrichment kit</td>
			<td>STEM Cell Technologies</td>
			<td>19852</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>mouse IL-2</td>
			<td>GenScript</td>
			<td>Z02764-20</td>
			<td>20 ng/mL</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>mouse ILC2 enrichment kit</td>
			<td>STEM Cell Technologies</td>
			<td>19842</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>mouse recombinant IL-33</td>
			<td>STEM Cell Technologies</td>
			<td>78044</td>
			<td>20 ng/mL</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>RPMI</td>
			<td>Life Technologies Corporation</td>
			<td>22400071</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Separation Buffer</td>
			<td>STEM Cell Technologies</td>
			<td>20144</td>
			<td>1 X PBS + 2% FBS; stored at 4C</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>small animal nebulizer and chamber</td>
			<td>Data Sciences International</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>sterile saline</td>
			<td>Baxter</td>
			<td>2F7124; NDC 0338-0048-04</td>
			<td>0.9% Sodium Chloride</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

assessment of lymphocyte migration in an ex vivo transmigration system

Herein, we present an efficient method that can be executed with basic laboratory skills and materials to assess lymphocyte chemokinetic movement in an ex vivo transmigration system. Group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2) and CD4+ T helper cells were isolated from spleens and lungs of chicken egg ovalbumin (OVA)-challenged BALB/c mice. We confirmed the expression of CCR4 on both CD4+ T cells and ILC2, comparatively. CCL17 and CCL22 are the known ligands for CCR4; therefore, using this ex vivo transmigration method we examined CCL17- and CCL22-induced movement of CCR4+ lymphocytes. To establish chemokine gradients, CCL17 and CCL22 were placed in the bottom chamber of the transmigration system. Isolated lymphocytes were then added to top chambers and over a 48 h period the lymphocytes actively migrated through 3 &#181;m pores towards the chemokine in the bottom chamber. This is an effective system for determining the chemokinetics of lymphocytes, but, understandably, does not mimic the complexities found in the in vivo organ microenvironments. This is one limitation of the method that can be overcome by the addition of in situ imaging of the organ and lymphocytes under study. In contrast, the advantage of this method is that is can be performed by an entry-level technician at a much more cost-effective rate than live imaging. As therapeutic compounds become available to enhance migration, as in the case of tumor infiltrating cytotoxic immune cells, or to inhibit migration, perhaps in the case of autoimmune diseases where immunopathology is of concern, this method can be used as a screening tool. In general, the method is effective if the chemokine of interest is consistently generating chemokinetics at a statistically higher level than the media control. In such cases, the degree of inhibition/enhancement by a given compound can be determined as well.

CCR4 expression on CD4+ T cells and ILC2.
For the success of the ex vivo transmigration experiment, it is imperative to determine whether the lymphocytes are responsive to CCL17 and CCL22 through CCR4; therefore, we determined CCR4 expression on both CD4+ T cells and ILC2 by flow cytometry. While it is well known that OVA-specific CD4+ helper T cells express CCR4, less is known of the expression of CCR4 on ILC2. Figure 1 show...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Assessment of Lymphocyte Migration in an Ex Vivo Transmigration System at JoVE.com

Assessment of Lymphocyte Migration in an Ex Vivo Transmigration System

In this protocol, lymphocytes are placed in the top chamber of a transmigration system, separated from the bottom chamber by a porous membrane. Chemokine is added to the bottom chamber, which induces active migration along a chemokine gradient. After 48 h, lymphocytes are counted in both chambers to quantitate transmigration.

Herein, we present an efficient method that can be executed with basic laboratory skills and materials to assess lymphocyte chemokinetic movement in an ex ...

Research

JoVE Journal

Immunology and Infection

Human T Lymphocyte Isolation, Culture and Analysis of Migration In Vitro

Human T Lymphocyte Isolation, Culture and Analysis of Migration In Vitro

The migration of T lymphocytes involves the adhesive interaction of cell surface integrins with ligands expressed on other cells or with extracellular ...

Non-invasive Imaging of Leukocyte Homing and Migration in vivo

Non-invasive Imaging of Leukocyte Homing and Migration in vivo

Two-photon (2P) microscopy is a high resolution imaging technique that has been broadly adapted by biologists.  The value of 2P microscopy is that it ...

Quantitative Assessment of Human Neutrophil Migration Across a Cultured Bladder Epithelium

The recruitment of immune cells from the periphery to the site of inflammation is an essential step in the innate immune response at any mucosal surface. ...

Assessing the Innate Sensing of HIV-1 Infected CD4+ T Cells by Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells Using an Ex vivo Co-culture System.

Assessing the Innate Sensing of HIV-1 Infected CD4+ T Cells by Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells Using an Ex vivo Co-culture System.

HIV-1 innate sensing requires direct contact of infected CD4+ T cells with plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs). In order to study this process, the ...

An Ex vivo Model of an Oligodendrocyte-directed T-Cell Attack in Acute Brain Slices

An Ex vivo Model of an Oligodendrocyte-directed T-Cell Attack in Acute Brain Slices

Death of oligodendrocytes accompanied by destruction of neurons and axons are typical histopathological findings in cortical and subcortical grey matter ...

Lymphocyte Isolation from Human Skin for Phenotypic Analysis and Ex Vivo Cell Culture

Lymphocyte Isolation from Human Skin for Phenotypic Analysis and Ex Vivo Cell Culture

Human skin has an important barrier function and contains various immune cells that contribute to tissue homeostasis and protection from pathogens. As the ...

Isolation and Ex Vivo Culture of V&#948;1+CD4+&#947;&#948; T Cells, an Extrathymic &#945;&#946;T-cell Progenitor

Isolation and Ex Vivo Culture of VÃƒÅ½Ã‚Â´1+CD4+ÃƒÅ½Ã‚Â³ÃƒÅ½Ã‚Â´ T Cells, an Extrathymic ÃƒÅ½Ã‚Â±ÃƒÅ½Ã‚Â²T-cell Progenitor

The thymus, the primary organ for the generation of &#945;&#946; T cells and backbone of the adaptive immune system in vertebrates, has long been ...

Flow Cytometric Analysis of Particle-bound Bet v 1 Allergen in PM10

Flow cytometry is a method widely used to quantify suspended solids such as cells or bacteria in a size range from 0.5 to several tens of micrometers in ...

Murine Lymphocyte Labeling by 64Cu-Antibody Receptor Targeting for In Vivo Cell Trafficking by PET/CT

Murine Lymphocyte Labeling by 64Cu-Antibody Receptor Targeting for In Vivo  Cell Trafficking by PET/CT

This protocol illustrates the production of 64Cu and the chelator conjugation/radiolabeling of a monoclonal antibody (mAb) followed by murine lymphocyte ...