Name: surgery and sample processing for correlative imaging of the murine pulmonary valve
Uploaded: 2021-08-05T14:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Surgery and Sample Processing for Correlative Imaging of the Murine Pulmonary Valve at JoVE.com

This work is supported, in part, by R01HL139796 and R01HL128847 grants to CKB and RO1DE028297 and CBET1608058 for DWM.

The use of animals in this study was in accordance with Nationwide Children&#39;s Hospital institutional animal care and use committee under protocol AR13-00030.
1. Pulmonary valve excision
<ol>
	<li>Autoclave the necessary tools needed for the mouse dissection. This includes fine scissors, micro forceps, micro vascular clamps, clamp applying forceps, microneedle holders, spring scissors, and retractors.</li>
	<li>Acclimate all mice for a minimum of 2 weeks before the operation. Remove C57BL...

<ol>
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D. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=The+aortic+valve+microstructure:+Effects+of+transvalvular+pressure.">The aortic valve microstructure: Effects of transvalvular pressure.</a> Journal of Biomedical Materials Research. 41 (1), 131-141 (1998).</li><li>Ayoub, 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=Heart+valve+biomechanics+and+underlying+mechanobiology.">Heart valve biomechanics and underlying mechanobiology.</a> Comprehensive Physiology. 6 (4), 1743-1780 (2016).</li><li>Stella, J. A., Liao, J., Sacks, M. 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E. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=ColVa1+and+ColXIa1+are+required+for+myocardial+morphogenesis+and+heart+valve+development.">ColVa1 and ColXIa1 are required for myocardial morphogenesis and heart valve development.</a> Developmental Dynamics. 235 (12), 3295-3305 (2006).</li><li>Hamatani, 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=Pathological+investigation+of+congenital+bicuspid+aortic+valve+stenosis,+compared+with+atherosclerotic+tricuspid+aortic+valve+stenosis+and+congenital+bicuspid+aortic+valve+regurgitation.">Pathological investigation of congenital bicuspid aortic valve stenosis, compared with atherosclerotic tricuspid aortic valve stenosis and congenital bicuspid aortic valve regurgitation.</a> PLoS One. 11 (8), (2016).</li></ol>

Removal of the ventricles serves two purposes. First, exposing the ventricle side to the atmospheric pressure, thereby only needing to apply a transvalvular pressure from the arterial side of the pulmonary valve to close, and second, providing a stable base to prevent twisting of the pulmonary trunk. During pressurization, the pulmonary trunk distends radially and inferiorly, making it prone to twisting, causing the collapse of the pulmonary trunk. Preloading the pulmonary valve with a saline solution offers an additiona...

The pulmonary valve (PV) serves to ensure unidirectional blood flow between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery. Pulmonary valve malformations are associated with several forms of congenital heart disease. The current treatment for congenital heart valve disease (HVD) is valvular repair or valve replacement, which can necessitate multiple invasive surgeries throughout a patient&#39;s lifetime1. It has been widely accepted that the function of the heart valve is derived from its structure, often referred to as the structure-function correlate. More specifically, the geometric and biomechanical properties of the heart dictate its function. The mechanical properties, in turn, are determined by the composition and organization of the ECM. By developing a method for determining the biomechanical properties of murine heart valves, transgenic animal models can be used to interrogate the role of the ECM on heart valve function and dysfunction2,3,4,5.
The murine animal model has long been regarded as the standard for molecular studies because transgenic models are more readily available in mice compared to other species. Murine transgenic models provide a versatile platform for researching heart valve-related diseases6. However, the surgical expertise and instrumentation requirements to characterize both the geometry and ECM organization have been a major hurdle in progressing HVD research. Hstological data in literature provides a picture into murine heart valve extracellular matrix content, but only in the form of 2D images, and are unable to describe its 3D architecture7,8. Additionally, the heart valve is both spatially and temporally heterogeneous, making it difficult to draw conclusions across experiments regarding ECM organization if the sampling and conformation are not fixed. Conventional 3D characterization methods, such as MRI or 3D echocardiography, do not provide the resolution necessary to resolve ECM components9,10.
This work details a fully correlative workflow where the temporal heterogeneity due to the cardiac cycle was addressed by fixing the conformation of the murine PV with hydrostatic transvalvular pressure. The spatial heterogeneity was controlled precisely by sampling regions of interest and registering data sets from different imaging modalities, specifically &#181;CT and serial block face scanning electron microscopy, across different length scales. This method of scouting with &#181;CT for guiding downstream sampling has been proposed previously, but because the pulmonary valve exhibits temporal variation, an additional level of control was needed on the surgical level11.
In vivo studies describing murine heart valve biomechanics are sparse and, instead, rely on computational models when describing the deformation behavior. It is of critical importance that local extracellular data on the nanometer length scale be related to the geometry and location of the heart valve. This, in turn, provides quantifiable, spatially mapped distributions of mechanically contributing ECM proteins, which can be used to reinforce existing biomechanical heart valve models12,13,14.

<table border="1" fo:keep-together.within-page="1" fo:keep-with-next.within-page="always">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>25% glutaraldehyde (aq)</td>
			<td>EMS</td>
			<td>16210</td>
			<td>Primary fixative component</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>0.9% sodium chloride injection</td>
			<td>Hospira Inc.</td>
			<td>NDC 0409-4888-10</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>1 mL syringe</td>
			<td>BD</td>
			<td>309659</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>10 mL syringe</td>
			<td>BD</td>
			<td>309604</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>200 proof ethanol</td>
			<td>EMS</td>
			<td>15055</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>22G needle</td>
			<td>BD</td>
			<td>305156</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>3 mL syringe</td>
			<td>BD</td>
			<td>309657</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>3-way stopcock</td>
			<td>Smiths Medical ASD, Inc.</td>
			<td>MX5311L</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>4% osmium tetroxide</td>
			<td>EMS</td>
			<td>19150</td>
			<td>Staining component</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>4% paraformaldehyde (aq)</td>
			<td>EMS</td>
			<td>157-4-100</td>
			<td>Primary fixative component</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Absorbable hemostat</td>
			<td>Ethicon</td>
			<td>1961</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Acetone</td>
			<td>EMS</td>
			<td>10012</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Black polyamide monofilament suture, 10-0</td>
			<td>AROSurgical instruments Corporation</td>
			<td>TI38402</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Black polyamide monofilament suture, 6-0</td>
			<td>AROSurgical instruments Corporation</td>
			<td>SN-1956</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>C57BL/6 mice</td>
			<td>Jackson Laboratories</td>
			<td>664</td>
			<td>Approximately 1 yo</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Calcium chloride</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>10043-52-4</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Clamp applying forcep</td>
			<td>FST</td>
			<td>00072-14</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Cotton tip applicators</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>23-400-118</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>DPBS</td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>14190-144</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Dumont #5 forcep</td>
			<td>FST</td>
			<td>11251-20</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Dumont #5/45 forceps</td>
			<td>FST</td>
			<td>11251-35</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Dumont #7 fine forcep</td>
			<td>FST</td>
			<td>11274-20</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Durcupan ACM resin</td>
			<td>EMS</td>
			<td>14040</td>
			<td>For embedding</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Fine scissor</td>
			<td>FST</td>
			<td>14028-10</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Heliscan microCT</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Micro-CT</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ketamine hydrochloride injection</td>
			<td>Hospira Inc.</td>
			<td>NDC 0409-2053</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>L-aspartic acid</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>56-84-8</td>
			<td>Staining component</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Lead nitrate</td>
			<td>EMS</td>
			<td>17900</td>
			<td>Staining component</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>low-vacuum backscatter detector</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>VSDBS</td>
			<td>SEM backscatter detector</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Micro-adson forcep</td>
			<td>FST</td>
			<td>11018-12</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Millex-GP filter, 0.22 um, PES 33mm, non-sterile</td>
			<td>EMD Millipore</td>
			<td>SLGP033NS</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Non-woven songes</td>
			<td>McKesson Corp.</td>
			<td>94442000</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Potassium hexacyanoferrate(II) trihydrate</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>14459-95-1</td>
			<td>Staining component</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Potassium hydroxide</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>1310-58-3</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Pressure monitor line</td>
			<td>Smiths Medical ASD, Inc.</td>
			<td>MX562</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Saline solution (sterile 0.9% sodium chloride)</td>
			<td>Hospira Inc.</td>
			<td>NDC 0409-0138-22</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Size 3 BEEM capsule</td>
			<td>EMS</td>
			<td>69910-01</td>
			<td>Embedding container</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sodium cacodylate trihydrate</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>6131-99-3</td>
			<td>Buffer</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Solibri retractors</td>
			<td>FST</td>
			<td>17000-04</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sputter, carbon and e-beam coater</td>
			<td>Leica</td>
			<td>EM ACE600</td>
			<td>Gold coater</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Surgical microscope</td>
			<td>Leica</td>
			<td>M80</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Thiocarbohydrazide (TCH)</td>
			<td>EMS</td>
			<td>21900</td>
			<td>Staining component</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Tish needle holder/forcep</td>
			<td>Micrins</td>
			<td>MI1540</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Trimmer</td>
			<td>Wahl</td>
			<td>9854-500</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Uranyl acetate</td>
			<td>EMS</td>
			<td>22400</td>
			<td>Staining component</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Volumescope scanning electron microscope</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>VOLUMESCOPESEM</td>
			<td>Serial Block Face Scanning Electron Microscope</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Xylazine sterile solution</td>
			<td>Akorn Inc.</td>
			<td>NADA# 139-236</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

surgery and sample processing for correlative imaging of the murine pulmonary valve

The underlying causes of heart valve related-disease (HVD) are elusive. Murine animal models provide an excellent tool for studying HVD, however, the surgical and instrumental expertise required to accurately quantify the structure and organization across multiple length scales have stunted its advancement. This work provides a detailed description of the murine dissection, en bloc staining, sample processing, and correlative imaging procedures for depicting the heart valve at different length scales. Hydrostatic transvalvular pressure was used to control the temporal heterogeneity by chemically fixing the heart valve conformation. Micro-computed tomography (&#181;CT) was used to confirm the geometry of the heart valve and provide a reference for the downstream sample processing needed for the serial block face scanning electron microscopy (SBF-SEM). High-resolution serial SEM images of the extracellular matrix (ECM) were taken and reconstructed to provide a local 3D representation of its organization. &#181;CT and SBF-SEM imaging methods were then correlated to overcome the spatial variation across the pulmonary valve. Though the work presented is exclusively on the pulmonary valve, this methodology could be adopted for describing the hierarchical organization in biological systems and is pivotal for the structural characterization across multiple length scales.

Anastomosis of the pulmonary artery to the pressurization tubing is shown in Figure 1A. Following the application of hydrostatic pressure, the pulmonary trunk distends radially (Figure 1B) indicating that the pulmonary valve leaflets are in a closed configuration. Pulmonary valve conformation was confirmed by &#181;CT. In this case, the leaflets were coapt (closed) and the annulus was circular (Figure 2A). Figur...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Surgery and Sample Processing for Correlative Imaging of the Murine Pulmonary Valve at JoVE.com

Surgery and Sample Processing for Correlative Imaging of the Murine Pulmonary Valve

Here, we describe a correlative workflow for the excision, pressurization, fixation, and imaging of the murine pulmonary valve to determine the gross conformation and local extracellular matrix structures.

The underlying causes of heart valve related-disease (HVD) are elusive. Murine animal models provide an excellent tool for studying HVD, however, the ...

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