Name: preparation of human tissues embedded in optimal cutting temperature compound for mass spectrometry analysis
Uploaded: 2021-04-27T15:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Preparation of Human Tissues Embedded in Optimal Cutting Temperature Compound for Mass Spectrometry Analysis at JoVE.com

Services and support of the research project were provided by the VCU Massey Cancer Center Tissue and Data Acquisition and Analysis Core and the VCU Lipidomics and Metabolomics Core, which are supported in part with funding from NIH-NCI Cancer Center Support Grant P30CA016059. This work was supported by National Institutes of Health Grants R21CA232234 (Santiago Lima).

De-identified human lung tissues were obtained from the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Tissue and Data Acquisition and Analysis Core under an internal review board (IRB) approved protocol (#HM2471). The use of mice for research and harvesting of mice tissues was approved by the VCU institutional animal care and use committee (IACUC).
1. Preparation of materials
NOTE: These steps should be performed a day prior to the tissue washing.
<ol>
	<li>Pre-label and...

<ol>
	<li>Maceyka, M., Spiegel, S. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Sphingolipid+metabolites+in+inflammatory+disease.">Sphingolipid metabolites in inflammatory disease.</a> Nature. 510, 58-67 (2014).</li><li>Ogretmen, B. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Sphingolipid+metabolism+in+cancer+signalling+and+therapy.">Sphingolipid metabolism in cancer signalling and therapy.</a> Nature Reviews. Cancer. 18 (1), 33-50 (2018).</li><li>Hannun, Y. A., Obeid, L. M. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Sphingolipids+and+their+metabolism+in+physiology+and+disease.">Sphingolipids and their metabolism in physiology and disease.</a> Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology. 19 (3), 175-191 (2018).</li><li>Hla, T., Dannenberg, A. J. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Sphingolipid+signaling+in+metabolic+disorders.">Sphingolipid signaling in metabolic disorders.</a> Cell Metabolism. 16 (4), 420-434 (2012).</li><li>Lima, S., Milstien, S., Spiegel, S. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Sphingosine+and+Sphingosine+Kinase+1+involvement+in+endocytic+membrane+Trafficking.">Sphingosine and Sphingosine Kinase 1 involvement in endocytic membrane Trafficking.</a> The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 292 (8), 3074-3088 (2017).</li><li>Lima, S., 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=TP53+is+required+for+BECN1-+and+ATG5-dependent+cell+death+induced+by+sphingosine+kinase+1+inhibition.">TP53 is required for BECN1- and ATG5-dependent cell death induced by sphingosine kinase 1 inhibition.</a> Autophagy. , 1-50 (2018).</li><li>Young, M. M., 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=Sphingosine+Kinase+1+cooperates+with+autophagy+to+maintain+endocytic+membrane+trafficking.">Sphingosine Kinase 1 cooperates with autophagy to maintain endocytic membrane trafficking.</a> Cell Reports. 17 (6), 1532-1545 (2016).</li><li>Young, M. M., Wang, H. G. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Sphingolipids+as+regulators+of+autophagy+and+endocytic+trafficking.">Sphingolipids as regulators of autophagy and endocytic trafficking.</a> Advances in Cancer Research. 140, 27-60 (2018).</li><li>Shen, 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=Coupling+between+endocytosis+and+sphingosine+kinase+1+recruitment.">Coupling between endocytosis and sphingosine kinase 1 recruitment.</a> Nature Cell Biology. 16 (7), 652-662 (2014).</li><li>Morad, S. A. F., Cabot, M. C., Chalfant, C. E., Fisher, P. B. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=.">.</a> Advances in Cancer Research. 140, 235-263 (2018).</li><li>Rohrbach, T. D., 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=A+simple+method+for+sphingolipid+analysis+of+tissues+embedded+in+optimal+cutting+temperature+compound.">A simple method for sphingolipid analysis of tissues embedded in optimal cutting temperature compound.</a> Journal of Lipid Research. 61 (6), 953-967 (2020).</li><li>Weston, L. A., Hummon, A. B. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Comparative+LC-MS/MS+analysis+of+optimal+cutting+temperature+(OCT)+compound+removal+for+the+study+of+mammalian+proteomes.">Comparative LC-MS/MS analysis of optimal cutting temperature (OCT) compound removal for the study of mammalian proteomes.</a> Analyst. 138 (21), 6380-6384 (2013).</li><li>Holfeld, A., Vald&#233;s, A., Malmstr&#246;m, P. -. U., Segersten, U., Lind, S. B. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Parallel+proteomic+workflow+for+mass+spectrometric+analysis+of+tissue+samples+preserved+by+different+methods.">Parallel proteomic workflow for mass spectrometric analysis of tissue samples preserved by different methods.</a> Analytical Chemistry. 90 (9), 5841-5849 (2018).</li><li>Zhang, W., Sakashita, S., Taylor, P., Tsao, M. S., Moran, M. F. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Comprehensive+proteome+analysis+of+fresh+frozen+and+optimal+cutting+temperature+(OCT)+embedded+primary+non-small+cell+lung+carcinoma+by+LC-MS/MS.">Comprehensive proteome analysis of fresh frozen and optimal cutting temperature (OCT) embedded primary non-small cell lung carcinoma by LC-MS/MS.</a> Methods. 81, 50-55 (2015).</li><li>Shah, P., 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=Tissue+proteomics+using+chemical+immobilization+and+mass+spectrometry.">Tissue proteomics using chemical immobilization and mass spectrometry.</a> Analytical Biochemistry. 469, 27-33 (2015).</li></ol>

OCT is a common long-term cryo-preservation agent used in biorepositories. However, OCT can result in ion suppression when tissues are analyzed by various mass spectrometry platforms12,13,14,15, or result in loss of signal when samples are analyzed by LC-ESI-MS/MS11. OCT in cryopreserved tissues can also interfere with tissue normalization methods such as weighing and pr...

Sphingolipids are bioactive metabolites known for their roles in human metabolism and disease1,2. They regulate complex cellular processes such as cell migration, cell survival and death, cell movement, vesicular trafficking, cellular invasion and metastasis, angiogenesis, and the production of cytokines1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9. Defects in the regulation of sphingolipid metabolism contribute to the initiation and progression of cancers, determine how aggressive cancers are, and how cancers respond to and develop resistance to therapy3,10. Therefore, because of these broad impacts on the etiology of disease, analytical methods that can precisely establish disease-specific sphingolipid alterations are important tools. Mass spectrometry (MS) is the most accurate and reliable method to analyze sphingolipid alterations.
Human specimens that can be used for the analysis of sphingolipid alterations can be obtained prospectively from the surgical suite or retrospectively from tissue biorepositories. Fresh tissues from surgery are advantageous because they can be directly analyzed by MS or other analytical methods. However, acquiring tissues prospectively has administrative, technical, and logistical hurdles, and collecting sufficient specimens to reach statistical power can be challenging. Obtaining tissues from biorepositories is advantageous because they can be acquired retrospectively, in large numbers, and biorepositories confirm histology and pathology, use standard operating procedures to cryogenically preserve and store tissues, and can provide clinicopathological data that can be used for correlation analyses. However, to preserve molecular and structural features, biorepositories may cryopreserve tissues by embedding them in optimal cutting temperature (OCT) compound, which we have shown interferes with data normalization assays and the quantification of sphingolipids by liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS)11. It has also been shown that polyvinyl alcohol and polyethylene glycol, the primary components in OCT compound, result in ion suppression in other MS analysis platforms12,13,14,15. Therefore, OCT compound must be removed from tissues prior to sphingolipidomic analysis by MS.
In a previous report, we have validated a protocol for the removal of OCT compound from human specimens for LC-ESI-MS/MS analysis11 and the methodology used for weighing tissues for data normalization11. Here, we detail the steps of the sphingolipidomic OCT compound-removal protocol (sOCTrP) and show representative data from human lung adenocarcinoma tumors and normal adjacent uninvolved tissues.

<table border="1" fo:keep-together.within-page="1" fo:keep-with-next.within-page="always">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>1 mL polypropylene pipette tips</td>
			<td>NA</td>
			<td>NA</td>
			<td>Used to retrieve specimens</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>1.5 mL polypropylene centrifuge tubes</td>
			<td>NA</td>
			<td>NA</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>10 mL Erlenmeyer flask</td>
			<td>VWR</td>
			<td>89091-116</td>
			<td>Used for tube and tissue weighing</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>AB Sciex Analyst 1.6.2</td>
			<td>Sciex</td>
			<td>NA</td>
			<td>Software to analyze and integrate MS data</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ammonium formate</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>A11550</td>
			<td>For LC mobile phases</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Analytical scale</td>
			<td>NA</td>
			<td>NA</td>
			<td>Scale that is accurate to 0.1 mg</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Bottle top dispenser</td>
			<td>Sartorius</td>
			<td>LH-723071</td>
			<td>Used for dispensing solvents</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>C12-Ceramide (d18:1/C12:0); N-(dodecanoyl)-sphing-4-enine</td>
			<td>Avanti Polar Lipids</td>
			<td>LM2212</td>
			<td>Internal standard</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>C12-glucosylceramide (d18:1/12:0); N-(dodecanoyl)-1-&#946;-glucosyl-sphing-4-eine</td>
			<td>Avanti Polar Lipids</td>
			<td>LM2511</td>
			<td>Internal standard</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>C12-lactosylceramide (d18:1/12:0); N-(dodecanoyl)-1-&#223;-lactosyl-sphing-4-ene</td>
			<td>Avanti Polar Lipids</td>
			<td>LM2512</td>
			<td>Internal standard</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>C12-Sphingomyelin&#160; (d18:1/C12:0), N-(dodecanoyl)-sphing-4-enine-1-phosphocholine</td>
			<td>Avanti Polar Lipids</td>
			<td>LM2312</td>
			<td>Internal standard</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>CHLOROFORM OMNISOLV 4L</td>
			<td>VWR</td>
			<td>EM-CX1054-1</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>ClickSeal Biocontainment Lids</td>
			<td>Thermo Scientific</td>
			<td>75007309</td>
			<td>To prevent biohazard aeresols during centrifugation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Conflikt</td>
			<td>Decon Labs</td>
			<td>4101</td>
			<td>Decontaminant</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>CTO-20A/20AC Column Oven</td>
			<td>Shimadzu</td>
			<td>NA</td>
			<td>For LC</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>d17:1-Sphingosine;&#160; (2S,3R,4E)-2-aminoheptadec-4-ene-1,3-diol</td>
			<td>Avanti Polar Lipids</td>
			<td>LM2000</td>
			<td>Internal standard</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>d17:1-Sphingosine-1-phosphate; heptadecasphing-4-enine-1-phosphate</td>
			<td>Avanti Polar Lipids</td>
			<td>LM2144</td>
			<td>Internal standard</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>DGU20A5R degasser</td>
			<td>Shimadzu</td>
			<td>NA</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Disposable Culture Tubes 13x100mm</td>
			<td>VWR</td>
			<td>53283-800</td>
			<td>13x100 mm screw top tubes</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Heated water bath</td>
			<td>NA</td>
			<td>NA</td>
			<td>For overnight lipid extraction</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Homogenizer 150</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>15-340-167</td>
			<td>triturate tissues</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Homogenizer Plastic Disposable Generator Probe</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>15-340-177</td>
			<td>for homogenization</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Kimwipes</td>
			<td>Kimtech</td>
			<td>34120</td>
			<td>Laboratory grade tissue used to make wicks</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Methanol LC-MS Grade 4L</td>
			<td>VWR</td>
			<td>EM-MX0486-1</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Nexera LC-30 AD binary pump system</td>
			<td>Shimadzu</td>
			<td>NA</td>
			<td>For LC-MS</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Permanent marker</td>
			<td>VWR</td>
			<td>52877-310</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Phenolic Screw Thread Closure, Kimble Chase (caps for disposable culture tubes)</td>
			<td>VWR</td>
			<td>89001-502</td>
			<td>13x100 mm screw top tube caps</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Phosphate bufffered saline</td>
			<td>Thermo Scientific</td>
			<td>10010023</td>
			<td>To retrieve specimens from tubes after washing</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Repeater pipette</td>
			<td>Eppendorf</td>
			<td>4987000118</td>
			<td>To dispense LC-MS internal standards</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Screw Caps, Blue, Red PTFE/White Silicone</td>
			<td>VWR</td>
			<td>89239-020</td>
			<td>Autoinjector vial caps</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Screw Thread Glass Vials with ID Patch</td>
			<td>VWR</td>
			<td>46610-724</td>
			<td>Autoinjector vials</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>SIL-30AC autoinjector</td>
			<td>Shimadzu</td>
			<td>NA</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>SpeedVac</td>
			<td>Thermo Scientific</td>
			<td>SPD2030P1220</td>
			<td>For drying solvents</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Supelco 2.1 (i.d.) x 50 mm Ascentis Express C18 column</td>
			<td>Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td>53822-U</td>
			<td>For LC-MS</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Triple Quad 5500+ LC-MS/MS System</td>
			<td>Sciex</td>
			<td>NA</td>
			<td>For LC-ESI-MS/MS</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ultrasonic water bath</td>
			<td>Branson</td>
			<td>Model 2800</td>
			<td>for homogenization and resuspension of extracted and dried lipids</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Vortexer</td>
			<td>NA</td>
			<td>NA</td>
			<td>For sOCTrP and resuspending dried lipids</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>VWR Culture Tubes Disposable Borosilicate Glass</td>
			<td>VWR</td>
			<td>47729572</td>
			<td>13x100 glass culture tubes</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Water Hipersolve Chromanorm LC-MS</td>
			<td>VWR</td>
			<td>BDH83645.400</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

preparation of human tissues embedded in optimal cutting temperature compound for mass spectrometry analysis

Sphingolipids are cellular components that have well-established roles in human metabolism and disease. Mass spectrometry can be used to determine whether sphingolipids are altered in a disease and investigate whether sphingolipids can be targeted clinically. However, properly powered prospective studies that acquire tissues directly from the surgical suite can be time consuming, and technically, logistically, and administratively challenging. In contrast, retrospective studies can take advantage of cryopreserved human specimens already available, usually in large numbers, at tissue biorepositories. Other advantages of procuring tissues from biorepositories include access to information associated with the tissue specimens including histology, pathology, and in some instances clinicopathological variables, all of which can be used to examine correlations with lipidomics data. However, technical limitations related to the incompatibility of optimal cutting temperature compound (OCT) used in the cryopreservation and mass spectrometry is a technical barrier for the analysis of lipids. However, we have previously shown that OCT can be easily removed from human biorepository specimens through cycles of washes and centrifugation without altering their sphingolipid content. We have also previously established that sphingolipids in human tissues cryopreserved in OCT are stable for up to 16 years. In this report, we outline the steps and workflow to analyze sphingolipids in human tissue specimens that are embedded in OCT, including washing tissues, weighing tissues for data normalization, the extraction of lipids, preparation of samples for analysis by liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS), mass spectrometry data integration, data normalization, and data analysis.

In this protocol, we describe in detail a method to remove OCT from cryo-preserved human tissues and weigh the tissues for analysis by LC-ESI-MS/MS. The materials required for this procedure are listed in Table of Materials. Shown in Figure 1 are results of a typical experiment where 10 human lung adenocarcinoma tumors and 10 normal adjacent tissues were washed to remove OCT and analyzed by LC-ESI-MS/MS. Importantly, as we have previously shown11, the...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Preparation of Human Tissues Embedded in Optimal Cutting Temperature Compound for Mass Spectrometry Analysis at JoVE.com

Preparation of Human Tissues Embedded in Optimal Cutting Temperature Compound for Mass Spectrometry Analysis

Sphingolipids are bioactive metabolites with well-established roles in human disease. Characterizing alterations in tissues with mass-spectrometry can reveal roles in disease etiology or identify therapeutic targets. However, the OCT-compound used for cryopreservation in biorepositories interferes with mass-spectrometry. We outline methods to analyze sphingolipids in human tissues embedded in OCT with LC-ESI-MS/MS.

Sphingolipids are cellular components that have well-established roles in human metabolism and disease. Mass spectrometry can be used to determine whether ...

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