Imaging Cell Shape Change in Living Drosophila Embryos

Summary

Early development of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, is characterized by a number of cell shape changes that are well suited for imaging approaches. This article will describe basic tools and methods required for live confocal imaging of Drosophila embryos, and will focus on a cell shape change called cellularization.

Abstract

The developing Drosophila melanogaster embryo undergoes a number of cell shape changes that are highly amenable to live confocal imaging. Cell shape changes in the fly are analogous to those in higher organisms, and they drive tissue morphogenesis. So, in many cases, their study has direct implications for understanding human disease (Table 1)^1-5. On the sub-cellular scale, these cell shape changes are the product of activities ranging from gene expression to signal transduction, cell polarity, cytoskeletal remodeling and membrane trafficking. Thus, the Drosophila embryo provides not only the context to evaluate cell shape changes as they relate to tissue morphogenesis, but also offers a completely physiological environment to study the sub-cellular activities that shape cells.

The protocol described here is designed to image a specific cell shape change called cellularization. Cellularization is a process of dramatic plasma membrane growth, and it ultimately converts the syncytial embryo into the cellular blastoderm. That is, at interphase of mitotic cycle 14, the plasma membrane simultaneously invaginates around each of ~6000 cortically anchored nuclei to generate a sheet of primary epithelial cells. Counter to previous suggestions, cellularization is not driven by Myosin-2 contractility⁶, but is instead fueled largely by exocytosis of membrane from internal stores⁷. Thus, cellularization is an excellent system for studying membrane trafficking during cell shape changes that require plasma membrane invagination or expansion, such as cytokinesis or transverse-tubule (T-tubule) morphogenesis in muscle.

Note that this protocol is easily applied to the imaging of other cell shape changes in the fly embryo, and only requires slight adaptations such as changing the stage of embryo collection, or using "embryo glue" to mount the embryo in a specific orientation (Table 1)^8-19. In all cases, the workflow is basically the same (Figure 1). Standard methods for cloning and Drosophila transgenesis are used to prepare stable fly stocks that express a protein of interest, fused to Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) or its variants, and these flies provide a renewable source of embryos. Alternatively, fluorescent proteins/probes are directly introduced into fly embryos via straightforward micro-injection techniques^9-10. Then, depending on the developmental event and cell shape change to be imaged, embryos are collected and staged by morphology on a dissecting microscope, and finally positioned and mounted for time-lapse imaging on a confocal microscope.

Protocol

1. Assemble Embryo Collection Cups

1. Cut the bottom off of a 100 mL Tri-corn beaker with a razor, making the edge as smooth as possible. The cups are easier to handle if you also trim the three corners off of the top, though this is not absolutely necessary.
2. Cut a square of wire mesh (6 cm x 6 cm). On a pre-warmed hot plate, inside of a fume hood, layer the square of wire mesh on top of a piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Push the cut bottom edge of the cup firmly onto the hot mesh. Wait for a few seconds, and lift the cup with the mesh now attached. If the foil also sticks, just peel it off.
3. Cool the cup overnight. Remove excess m....

Discussion

The protocol described herein will permit the live, confocal imaging of a number of cell shape changes in the developing fly embryo. GFP stocks for imaging can be prepared by an individual lab (Table 2), but many such stocks are also publicly available from centers such as Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center at Indiana University (http://flystocks.bio.indiana.edu) and FlyTrap Stock Center at Yale University (http://flytrap.med........

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Slides	Fisher Scientific	12-550-343
Cover slips 25x25	Fisher Scientific	1 2-524C
Squirt bottles (H2O)	Fisher Scientific	02-897-11
50 ml Falcon tubes	Fisher Scientific	14-432-22
Bulbs for small pipets, 1 mL	Fisher Scientific	03-448-21
Scintillation vials with caps	VWR international	66021-533
Tri-Corn Beakers, 100 mL	Electron Microscopy Sciences	60970
BD Falcon Petri dish 60x15mm	Fisher Scientific	08757 100B
BD Falcon Cell strainer	Fisher Scientific	08-771-2
Yellow pipet tips	Rainin	L200
Stainless steel mesh, 304, 12x24	Small Parts, Inc.	CX-0150-F-01
Glass 5¾ inch Pasteur Pipets	Fisher Scientific	13-678-20B
P4 Filter paper	Fisher Scientific	09-803-6F
Rubber bands	Office Max	A620645
Scotch double-sided tape, ½ inch	Office Max	A8137DM-2
Robert Simmons Expression paint brushes E85 round #2	Jerry’s Artarama	56460
Dumont #5 Forceps High Precision Inox	Electron Microscopy Sciences	72701-DZ
Razor blades	VWR international	55411-050
Halocarbon Oil 27	Sigma-Aldrich	H 8773
Heptane	Fisher Scientific	H360-1
BD Bacto Agar	VWR international	90000-760
Sucrose	Sigma-Aldrich	S7903
p-Hydroxybenzoic acid	Sigma-Aldrich	H5501
Red Star Active Dry Yeast	LeSaffre	15700
Paper towels, C-fold	Kleenex
Heavy duty aluminum foil	Reynolds Wrap
Bleach	Austin’s A-1 Commercial
100% Apple juice	Ocean Spray or Tree Top