Name: single-cell electroporation across different organotypic slice culture of mouse hippocampal excitatory and class-specific inhibitory neurons
Uploaded: 2020-10-06T13:30:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Single-Cell Electroporation across Different Organotypic Slice Culture of Mouse Hippocampal Excitatory and Class-Specific Inhibitory Neurons at JoVE.com

This work was supported by National Institutes of Health Grants (R01NS085215 to K.F., T32 GM107000 and F30MH122146 to A.C.). The authors thank Ms. Naoe Watanabe for skillful technical assistance.

All animal protocols were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Slice culture preparation, plasmid preparation, and electroporation are also detailed in our previously published methods and can be referred to for additional information10.
1. Slice culture preparation
<ol>
	<li>Prepare mouse organotypic hippocampal slice cultures as previously described11</su...

<ol>
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We describe here an electroporation method that transfects both excitatory and inhibitory neurons with high efficiency and precision. Our optimized electroporation protocol has three innovative breakthroughs to achieve highly efficient gene transfection. Our first modification was to increase pipette size compared with previously published protocols3,5,6. This change enabled us to electroporate many neurons without pipette clogg...

In molecular biology, one of the most important considerations to an investigator is how to deliver a gene of interest into a cell or population of cells to elucidate its function. The different methods of delivery can be categorized as either biological (e.g., a viral vector), chemical (e.g., calcium phosphate or lipid), or physical (e.g., electroporation, microinjection, or biolistics)1,2. Biological methods are highly efficient and can be cell type-specific but are limited by the development of specific genetic tools. Chemical approaches are very powerful in vitro, but transfections are generally random; further, these approaches are mostly reserved for primary cells only. Of the physical approaches, biolistics is the simplest and easiest from a technical point of view, but again produces random transfection results at a relatively low efficiency. For applications which require transfer into specific cells without the need for developing genetic tools, we look toward single-cell electroporation3,4.
Whereas electroporation used to refer only to field electroporation, over the past twenty years, multiple in vitro and in vivo single-cell electroporation protocols have been developed to improve specificity and efficiency5,6,7, demonstrating that electroporation can be used to transfer genes to individual cells and can, therefore, be extremely precise. However, the procedures are technically demanding, time-consuming, and relatively inefficient. Indeed, more recent papers have investigated the feasibility of mechanized electroporation rigs8,9, which can help to eliminate several of these barriers for investigators interested in installing such robotics. But for those looking for simpler means, the problems with electroporation, namely cell death, transfection failure, and pipette clogging, remain a concern.
We recently developed an electroporation method that uses larger-tipped glass pipettes, milder electrical pulse parameters, and a unique pressure cycling step, which generated a much higher transfection efficiency in excitatory neurons than previous methods, and enabled us for the first time to transfect genes in inhibitory interneurons, including somatostatin-expressing inhibitory interneurons in the hippocampal CA1 region of mouse organotypic slice culture10. However, the reliability of this electroporation method in different inhibitory interneuron types and neuronal developmental stages has not been addressed. Here, we demonstrated that this electroporation technique is capable of transfecting genes into both excitatory neurons and different classes of interneurons. Importantly, transfection efficiency was high regardless of days in vitro (DIV) slice culture age tested. This established and user-friendly technique is highly recommended to any investigator interested in using single-cell electroporation for different cell types in the context of in vitro mouse brain tissue.

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Plasmid preparation</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Plasmid Purification Kit</td>
			<td>Qiagen</td>
			<td>12362</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Organotypic slice culture preparation</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>6 Well Plates</td>
			<td>GREINER BIO-ONE</td>
			<td>657160</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Dumont #5/45 Forceps</td>
			<td>FST</td>
			<td>#5/45</td>
			<td>Angled dissection forceps for organotypic slice culture preparation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Flask Filter Unit</td>
			<td>Millipore</td>
			<td>SCHVU02RE</td>
			<td>Filtration and storage of culture media</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Incubator</td>
			<td>Binder</td>
			<td>BD C150-UL</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>McIlwain Tissue Chopper</td>
			<td>TED PELLA, INC.</td>
			<td>10180</td>
			<td>Tissue chopper for organotypic slice culture preparation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Millicell Cell Culture Insert, 30 mm</td>
			<td>Millipore</td>
			<td>PIHP03050</td>
			<td>Organotypic slice culture inserts</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Osmometer</td>
			<td>Precision Systems</td>
			<td>OSMETTE II</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>PTFE coated spatulas</td>
			<td>Cole-Parmer</td>
			<td>SK-06369-11</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Scissors</td>
			<td>FST</td>
			<td>14958-09</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Stereo Microscope</td>
			<td>Olympus</td>
			<td>SZ61</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sterile Vacuum Filtration System</td>
			<td>Millipore</td>
			<td>SCGPT01RE</td>
			<td>Filtration and storage of aCSF</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Electrode preparation</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Capillary Glasses</td>
			<td>Warner Instruments</td>
			<td>640796</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Micropipetter Puller</td>
			<td>Sutter Instrument</td>
			<td>P-1000</td>
			<td>Puller</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Oven</td>
			<td>Binder</td>
			<td>BD (E2)</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Puller Filament</td>
			<td>Sutter Instrument</td>
			<td>FB330B</td>
			<td>Puller</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Single-cell electroporation and fluorescence imaging #1</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>3.5 mm Falcon Petri Dishes</td>
			<td>BD Falcon</td>
			<td>353001</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Airtable</td>
			<td>TMC</td>
			<td>63-7512E</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>CCD camera</td>
			<td>Q Imaging</td>
			<td>Retiga-2000DC</td>
			<td>Camera</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Electroporation System</td>
			<td>Molecular Devices</td>
			<td>Axoporator 800A</td>
			<td>Electroporator</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Fluorescence Illumination System</td>
			<td>Prior</td>
			<td>Lumen 200</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Manipulator</td>
			<td>Sutter Instrument</td>
			<td>MPC-385</td>
			<td>Manipulator</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Metamorph software</td>
			<td>Molecular Devices</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Image acquisition</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Peristaltic Pump</td>
			<td>Rainin</td>
			<td>Dynamax, RP-2</td>
			<td>Perfusion pump</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Shifting Table</td>
			<td>Luigs &#38; Neuman</td>
			<td>240 XY</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Speaker</td>
			<td>Unknown</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Speakers connected to the electroporator</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Stereo Microscope</td>
			<td>Olympus</td>
			<td>SZ30</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Table Top Incubator</td>
			<td>Thermo Scientific</td>
			<td>MIDI 40</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Upright Microscope</td>
			<td>Olympus</td>
			<td>BX61WI</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Fluorescence imaging #2</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>All-in-One Fluorescence Microscope</td>
			<td>Keyence</td>
			<td>BZ-X710</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

single-cell electroporation across different organotypic slice culture of mouse hippocampal excitatory and class-specific inhibitory neurons

Electroporation has established itself as a critical method for transferring specific genes into cells to understand their function. Here, we describe a single-cell electroporation technique that maximizes the efficiency (~80%) of in vitro gene transfection in excitatory and class-specific inhibitory neurons in mouse organotypic hippocampal slice culture. Using large glass electrodes, tetrodotoxin-containing artificial cerebrospinal fluid and mild electrical pulses, we delivered a gene of interest into cultured hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons and inhibitory interneurons. Moreover, electroporation could be carried out in cultured hippocampal slices up to 21 days in vitro with no reduction in transfection efficiency, allowing for the study of varying slice culture developmental stages. With interest growing in examining the molecular functions of genes across a diverse range of cell types, our method demonstrates a reliable and straightforward approach to in vitro gene transfection in mouse brain tissue that can be performed with existing electrophysiology equipment and techniques.

Our single-cell electroporation is capable of precisely delivering genes into visually identified excitatory and inhibitory neurons. We electroporated three different neuronal cell types at three different time points. Parvalbumin (Pv) or vesicular glutamate type 3 (VGT3) expressing neurons were visualized by crossing Pvcre (JAX #008069) or VGT3cre (JAX #018147) lines with TdTomato (a variant of red fluorescent protein) reporter line (Jax #007905), respectively named Pv/TdTomato and VGT3/TdTomato li...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Single-Cell Electroporation across Different Organotypic Slice Culture of Mouse Hippocampal Excitatory and Class-Specific Inhibitory Neurons at JoVE.com

Single-Cell Electroporation across Different Organotypic Slice Culture of Mouse Hippocampal Excitatory and Class-Specific Inhibitory Neurons

Presented here is a protocol for single-cell electroporation that can deliver genes in both excitatory and inhibitory neurons across a range of in vitro hippocampal slice culture ages. Our approach provides precise and efficient expression of genes in individual cells, which can be used to examine cell-autonomous and intercellular functions.

Electroporation has established itself as a critical method for transferring specific genes into cells to understand their function. Here, we describe a ...

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