Name: induction and analysis of oxidative stress in sleeping beauty transposon-transfected human retinal pigment epithelial cells
Uploaded: 2020-12-11T13:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Induction and Analysis of Oxidative Stress in Sleeping Beauty Transposon-Transfected Human Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells at JoVE.com

The authors would like to thank Gregg Sealy and Alain Conti for excellent technical assistance and Prof. Zsuzsanna Izsv&#225;k from the Max-Delbr&#252;ck Center in Berlin for kindly providing the pSB100X&#160;and pT2-CAGGS-Venus&#160;plasmids. This work was supported by the Swiss National Sciences Foundation and the European Commission in the context of the Seventh Framework Programme. Z.I was funded by European Research Council, ERC Advanced [ERC-2011-ADG 294742].

Procedures for the collection and use of human eyes were approved by the Cantonal Ethical Commission for Research (no. 2016-01726).
1. Cell isolation and culture conditions
<ol>
	<li>Human ARPE-19 cell line
	<ol>
		<li>Culture 5 x 105 ARPE-19 cells, a human RPE cell line, in Dulbecco&#39;s Modified Eagle&#39;s Medium/Nutrient Mixture F-12 Ham (DMEM/Ham&#180;s F-12) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS), 80 U/mL penicillin, 80 &#181;g/mL streptomycin, and 2.5 &#181;g/mL am...

<ol>
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The protocol presented here offers an approach to analyze the anti-oxidative and protective function of PEDF and GM-CSF produced by transfected cells, which can be applied to cells transfected with any putative beneficial gene. In gene therapeutic strategies that have the objective to deliver proteins to tissue by transplanting genetically modified cells, it is critical to obtain information as to the level of protein expression, the longevity of expression, and the effectiveness of the expressed protein in a model of th...

The model described here, offers a useful approach to evaluate the efficiency ofbiopharmaceutical agents for reducing oxidative stress in cells. We have used the model to investigate the protective effects of PEDF and GM-CSF on the H2O2-mediated oxidative stress on retinal pigment epithelial cells, which are exposed to high levels of O2, and visible light, and the phagocytosis of photoreceptor outer segment membranes, generating significant levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS)1,2. They are considered a major contributor to the pathogenesis of avascular age-related macular degeneration (aAMD)3,4,5,6,7,8. Besides, there is a decrease in RPE-synthesized neuroprotective factors, specifically the pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF), insulin-like growth factors (IGFs), and granulocyte macrophage-colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) leading to the dysfunction and loss of RPE cells, followed by photoreceptor and retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death3,4,5. AMD is a complex disease that results from the interaction between metabolic, functional, genetic, and environmental factors4. The lack of treatments for aAMD is the major cause of blindness in patients older than 60 years of age in industrialized countries9,10. The reconstitution of the neuroprotective and neurogenic retinal environment by the subretinal transplantation of genetically modified RPE cells overexpressing PEDF and GM-CSF has the potential to prevent retinal degeneration by mitigating the effects of oxidative stress, inhibiting inflammation and supporting cell survival11,12,13,14,15,16. Even though there are several methodologies to deliver genes to cells, we have chosen the non-viral hyperactive Sleeping Beauty transposon system to deliver the PEDF and GM-CSF genes to RPE cells because of its safety profile, the integration of the genes into the host cells&#39; genome, and its propensity to integrate the delivered genes in non-transcriptionally active sites as we have shown previously17,18,19.
Cellular oxidative stress can be induced in cells cultured in vitro by several oxidative agents, including hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), 4-hydroynonenal (HNE), tertbutylhydroperoxide (tBH), high oxygen tensions, and visible light (full spectrum or UV irradiation)20,21. High oxygen tensions and light require special equipment and conditions, which limits transferability to other systems. Agents such as H2O2, HNE, and tBH induce overlapping oxidative stress molecular and cellular changes. We chose H2O2 to test the antioxidant activity of PEDF and GM-CSF because it is convenient and biologically relevant since it is produced by RPE cells as a reactive oxygen intermediate during photoreceptor outer segment phagocytosis22 and it is found in ocular tissues in vivo23. Since the oxidation of glutathione may be partially responsible for the production of H2O2 in the eye, we have analyzed the levels of GSH/glutathione in our studies, which are linked to H2O2-induced oxidative stress and the regenerative capacity of cells21,22. The analysis of glutathione levels is especially relevant since it participates in the anti-oxidative protective mechanisms in the eye24. Exposure to H2O2 is used frequently as a model to examine the oxidative stress susceptibility and antioxidant activity of RPE cells1,25,26,27,28,29,30, and, additionally, it shows similarities to light-induced oxidative stress damage, a &#34;physiological&#34; source of oxidative stress21.
To evaluate the functionality and the effectiveness of neuroprotective factors, we have developed an in vitro model that allows for the analysis to quantify the anti-oxidative effect of growth factors expressed by cells genetically modified to overexpress PEDF and GM-CSF. Here, we show that RPE cells transfected with the genes for PEDF and GM-CSF are more resistant to the harmful effects of H2O2 than are non-transfected control cells, as evidenced by cell morphology, density, viability, intracellular level of glutathione, and expression of UCP2 gene, which codes for the mitochondrial uncoupling protein 2 that has been shown to reduce reactive oxygen species (ROS)31.

<table border="1" fo:keep-together.within-page="1" fo:keep-with-next.within-page="always">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>24-well plates</td>
			<td>Corning</td>
			<td>353047</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>6-well plates</td>
			<td>Greiner</td>
			<td>7657160</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>96-well culture plate white with clear flat bottom&#160;</td>
			<td>Costar</td>
			<td>3610</td>
			<td>Allows to check the cells before measuring the luminescence (GSH-Glo Assay)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>96-well plates</td>
			<td>Corning&#160;</td>
			<td>353072</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Acrylamid 40%</td>
			<td>Biorad</td>
			<td>161-0144</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Amphotericin B</td>
			<td>AMIMED</td>
			<td>4-05F00-H</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Antibody anti-GMCSF</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>PA5-24184</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Antibody anti-mouse IgG/IgA/IgM&#160;</td>
			<td>Agilent</td>
			<td>P0260</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Antibody anti-PEDF&#160;</td>
			<td>Santa Cruz Biotechnology Inc</td>
			<td>sc-390172</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Antibody anti-penta-His&#160;</td>
			<td>Qiagen</td>
			<td>34660</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Antibody anti-phospho-Akt</td>
			<td>Cell Signaling Technology</td>
			<td>9271</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Antibody anti-rabbit IgG H&#38;L-HRP</td>
			<td>Abcam</td>
			<td>ab6721</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Antibody donkey anti-rabbit Alexa Fluor 594&#160;</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific&#160;</td>
			<td>A11034</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Antibody goat anti-mouse Alexa 488</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>A-11029</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>ARPE-19 cell line</td>
			<td>ATCC</td>
			<td>CRL-2302</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>BSA&#160;</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>A9418-500G</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>chamber culture glass slides</td>
			<td>Corning</td>
			<td>354118</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>CytoTox-Glo Cytotoxicity Assay&#160;</td>
			<td>Promega</td>
			<td>G9291</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>DAPI</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>D9542-5MG</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>DMEM/Ham`s F12&#160;</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>D8062</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Duo Set ELISA kit</td>
			<td>R&#38;D Systems&#160;</td>
			<td>DY215-05</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>EDTA</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>78440</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>ELISAquant kit</td>
			<td>BioProducts MD</td>
			<td>PED613-10-Human</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Eyes (human)</td>
			<td>Lions Gift of Sight Eye Bank (Saint Paul, MN)</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>FBS&#160;</td>
			<td>Brunschwig</td>
			<td>P40-37500</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Fluoromount Aqueous Mounting Medium</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>F4680-25ML</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>FLUOstar Omega plate reader&#160;</td>
			<td>BMG Labtech</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>GraphPad Prism software (version 8.0)</td>
			<td>GraphPad Software, Inc.</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>GSH-Glo Glutathione Assay</td>
			<td>Promega</td>
			<td>V6912</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)</td>
			<td>Merck</td>
			<td>107209</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>ImageJ software (image processing program)</td>
			<td>W.S. Rasband, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA; https://imagej.nih.gov/ij/; 1997&#8211;2014</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Imidazol&#160;</td>
			<td>Axonlab</td>
			<td>A1378.0010</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Leica DMI4000B microscope&#160;</td>
			<td>Leica Microsystems</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>LightCycler 480 Instrument II&#160;</td>
			<td>Roche Molecular Systems</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>LightCycler 480 SW1.5.1 software</td>
			<td>Roche Molecular Systems</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>NaCl</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>71376-1000</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>NaH2PO4</td>
			<td>Axonlab</td>
			<td>3468.1000</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Neon Transfection System&#160;</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>MPK5000</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Neon Transfection System 10 &#181;L Kit</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>MPK1096</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Neubauer chamber</td>
			<td>Marienfeld-superior</td>
			<td>640010</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ni-NTA superflow&#160;</td>
			<td>Qiagen</td>
			<td>30410</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Nitrocellulose&#160;</td>
			<td>VWR</td>
			<td>732-3197</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Omega Lum G Gel Imaging System</td>
			<td>Aplegen Life Science</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>PBS 1X</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>D8537</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Penicillin/Streptomycin</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>P0781-100</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>PerfeCTa SYBR Green FastMix</td>
			<td>Quantabio</td>
			<td>95072-012</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>PFA&#160;</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>158127-100G</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Pierce BCA Protein Assay Kit&#160;</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>23227</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Primers&#160;</td>
			<td>Invitrogen&#160;</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>See Table 1 in Supplementary Materials</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>pSB100X (250 ng/&#181;L)</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td>M&#225;t&#233;s et al., 2009. Provide by Prof. Zsuzsanna Izsvak</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>pT2-CMV-GMCSF-His plasmid DNA (250 ng/&#181;L)</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Constructed using the existing pT2-CMV-PEDF-EGFP plasmid reported in Johnen, S. et al. (2012) IOVS, 53 (8), 4787-4796.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>pT2-CMV-PEDF-His plasmid DNA (250 ng/&#181;L)</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Constructed using the existing pT2-CMV-PEDF-EGFP plasmid reported in Johnen, S. et al. (2012) IOVS, 53 (8), 4787-4796.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>QIAamp DNA Mini Kit</td>
			<td>QIAGEN</td>
			<td>51304</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>recombinant hGM-CSF&#160;</td>
			<td>Peprotech</td>
			<td>100-11</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>recombinant hPEDF&#160;&#160;</td>
			<td>BioProductsMD</td>
			<td>004-096</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>ReliaPrep RNA Cell Miniprep System</td>
			<td>Promega</td>
			<td>Z6011</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>RIPA buffer</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>89901</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>RNase-free DNase Set</td>
			<td>QIAGEN</td>
			<td>79254</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>RNeasy Mini Kit</td>
			<td>QIAGEN</td>
			<td>74204</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>SDS</td>
			<td>Applichem</td>
			<td>A2572</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Semi-dry transfer system for WB&#160;</td>
			<td>Bio-Rad</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>SuperMix qScript</td>
			<td>Quantabio</td>
			<td>95048-025</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Tris-buffered saline (TBS)&#160;</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>15504020</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Triton X-100</td>
			<td>AppliChem</td>
			<td>A4975</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Trypsin/EDTA</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>T4174</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Tween</td>
			<td>AppliChem&#160;</td>
			<td>A1390</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Urea</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher Scientific</td>
			<td>29700</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>WesternBright ECL HRP substrate</td>
			<td>Advansta</td>
			<td>K-12045-D50</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Whatman nitrocellulose membrane</td>
			<td>Chemie Brunschwig</td>
			<td>MNSC04530301</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

induction and analysis of oxidative stress in sleeping beauty transposon-transfected human retinal pigment epithelial cells

Oxidative stress plays a critical role in several degenerative diseases, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a pathology that affects ~30 million patients worldwide. It leads to a decrease in retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)-synthesized neuroprotective factors, e.g., pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), followed by the loss of RPE cells, and eventually photoreceptor and retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death. We hypothesize that the reconstitution of the neuroprotective and neurogenic retinal environment by the subretinal transplantation of transfected RPE cells overexpressing PEDF and GM-CSF has the potential to prevent retinal degeneration by mitigating the effects of oxidative stress, inhibiting inflammation, and supporting cell survival. Using the Sleeping Beauty transposon system (SB100X) human RPE cells have been transfected with the PEDF and GM-CSF genes and shown stable gene integration, long-term gene expression, and protein secretion using qPCR, western blot, ELISA, and immunofluorescence. To confirm the functionality and the potency of the PEDF and GM-CSF secreted by the transfected RPE cells, we have developed an in vitro assay to quantify the reduction of H2O2-induced oxidative stress on RPE cells in culture. Cell protection was evaluated by analyzing cell morphology, density, intracellular level of glutathione, UCP2 gene expression, and cell viability. Both, transfected RPE cells overexpressing PEDF and/or GM-CSF and cells non-transfected but pretreated with PEDF and/or GM-CSF (commercially available or purified from transfected cells) showed significant antioxidant cell protection compared to non-treated controls. The present H2O2-model is a simple and effective approach to evaluate the antioxidant effect of factors that may be effective to treat AMD or similar neurodegenerative diseases.

Induction of oxidative stress in human Retinal Pigment Epithelial cells 
ARPE-19 and primary hRPE cells were treated with varying concentrations of H2O2 for 24 h and the intracellular level of the antioxidant glutathione was quantified (Figure 2A,B). H2O2 at 50 &#181;M and 100 &#181;M did not affect glutathione production, whereas at 350 &#181;M there was a significant decrease...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Induction and Analysis of Oxidative Stress in Sleeping Beauty Transposon-Transfected Human Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells at JoVE.com

Induction and Analysis of Oxidative Stress in Sleeping Beauty Transposon-Transfected Human Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells

We present a protocol for the development and use ofan oxidative stress-model by treating retinal pigment epithelial cells with H2O2, analyzing cell morphology, viability, density, glutathione, and UCP-2 level. It is a useful model to investigate the antioxidant effect of proteins secreted by transposon-transfected cells to treat neuroretinal degeneration.

Induction and Analysis of Oxidative Stress in Sleeping Beauty Transposon-Transfected Human Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells

Oxidative stress plays a critical role in several degenerative diseases, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a pathology that affects ~30 ...

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