Isolation, Culture, and Transplantation of Muscle Satellite Cells

Summary

The isolation and culture of a pure population of quiescent satellite cells, a muscle stem cell population, is essential to the understanding of muscle stem cell biology and regeneration, as well as stem cell transplantation for therapies in muscular dystrophy and other degenerative diseases. 

Abstract

Muscle satellite cells are a stem cell population required for postnatal skeletal muscle development and regeneration, accounting for 2-5% of sublaminal nuclei in muscle fibers. In adult muscle, satellite cells are normally mitotically quiescent. Following injury, however, satellite cells initiate cellular proliferation to produce myoblasts, their progenies, to mediate the regeneration of muscle. Transplantation of satellite cell-derived myoblasts has been widely studied as a possible therapy for several regenerative diseases including muscular dystrophy, heart failure, and urological dysfunction. Myoblast transplantation into dystrophic skeletal muscle, infarcted heart, and dysfunctioning urinary ducts has shown that engrafted myoblasts can differentiate into muscle fibers in the host tissues and display partial functional improvement in these diseases. Therefore, the development of efficient purification methods of quiescent satellite cells from skeletal muscle, as well as the establishment of satellite cell-derived myoblast cultures and transplantation methods for myoblasts, are essential for understanding the molecular mechanisms behind satellite cell self-renewal, activation, and differentiation. Additionally, the development of cell-based therapies for muscular dystrophy and other regenerative diseases are also dependent upon these factors.

However, current prospective purification methods of quiescent satellite cells require the use of expensive fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) machines. Here, we present a new method for the rapid, economical, and reliable purification of quiescent satellite cells from adult mouse skeletal muscle by enzymatic dissociation followed by magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS). Following isolation of pure quiescent satellite cells, these cells can be cultured to obtain large numbers of myoblasts after several passages. These freshly isolated quiescent satellite cells or ex vivo expanded myoblasts can be transplanted into cardiotoxin (CTX)-induced regenerating mouse skeletal muscle to examine the contribution of donor-derived cells to regenerating muscle fibers, as well as to satellite cell compartments for the examination of self-renewal activities.

Introduction

Muscle satellite cells are a small population of myogenic stem cells located beneath the basal lamina of skeletal muscle fibers. They are characterized by the expression of Pax7, Pax3, c-Met, M-cadherin, CD34, Syndecan-3, and calcitonin^1-3. Satellite cells have proven to be responsible for muscle regeneration as muscle stem cells. In adult muscle, satellite cells are normally mitotically quiescent^4-8. Following injury, satellite cells are activated, initiate expression of MyoD, and enter the cell cycle to expand their progeny, termed myogenic precursor cells or myoblasts³. After several rounds of cell division, myoblasts exi....

Protocol

The animals were housed in an SPF environment and were monitored by the Research Animal Resources (RAR) of the University of Minnesota. The animals were euthanized by appropriate means (CO₂ inhalation or KCl injection after being anesthetized with IP injection of Avertin (250 mg/kg). All protocols were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC, Code Number: 1304-30492) of the University of Minnesota.

1. Isolation of Mononuclear Cells from Mouse Skeletal Muscle

1. Properly sacrifice 1 or 2 young adult mice (3-8 weeks).
   1. Pinch and slit the skin of the abdomen with sharp scissors. Pe....

Results

Freshly isolated quiescent satellite cells display a small, round shape (Figure 1G), and express Pax7 as a definitive marker for quiescent satellite cells. More than 90% of freshly isolated cells express Pax7 (Figure 1H and 1I). Most contaminated cells are from blood cells which do not efficiently grow in vitro following myoblast culture conditions. Thus, satellite cell-derived myoblasts dominate in the culture. Optionally, we can repeat the steps for MS column .......

Discussion

In this protocol, quiescent satellite cells can be easily purified from adult skeletal muscle of mice by collagenase digestion and surface antibody-mediated MACS separation. This method takes approximately 6 hours and does not need any expensive equipment such as a FACS machine. In addition, this method is relatively inexpensive compared to surface antibody-mediated FACS separation. A higher yield of quiescent satellite cells is also expected in comparison to FACS for this method since FACS laser exposure tends to induce.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Materials
Collagenase Type 2	Worthington	CLS-2	100 mg
Marigel	BD Biosciences	356234	5 ml
DMEM	Gibco-Invitrogen	10569010	500 ml
Collagen (Rat Tail)	BD Biosciences	354236	100 mg (3-4 mg/ml)
Acetic Acid	Sigma-Aldrich	320099-500ML	500 ml
bFGF, human, Recombinant	Gibco-Invitrogen	PHG0263	1 mg
Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA)	Sigma-Aldrich	A5611-1G	1 g
Ham’s F10 Medium	Gibco-Invitrogen	11550-043	500 ml
Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS)	Fisher Scientific	3600511	500 ml
Horse Serum	Gibco-Invitrogen	26050088	500 ml
Penicillin/Streptmycin	Gibco-Invitrogen	15640055	100 ml
Phosphate Buffered Saline	Gibco-Invitrogen	14190144	500 ml
0.25% Trypsin/EDTA	Gibco-Invitrogen	25200072	500 ml
18 G needle with 12 ml Syringe	Fisher Scientific	22-256-563
Cell strainer (70 μm)	Fisher Scientific	22-363-548
Falcon 50 ml tube	BD Biosciences	352098
Falcon 15 ml tube	BD Biosciences	352097
10 cm Tissue culture plate	BD Biosciences	353003
6 cm Tissue culture plate	BD Biosciences	353004
Falcon 10 ml disposable pipette	BD Biosciences	357551
Anti-CD31 antibody-PE	eBiosciences	12-0311
Anti-CD45 antibody-PE	eBiosciences	30-F11
Anti-Sca1 antibody-PE	eBiosciences	Dec-81
Anti-Integrin α7 antibody	MBL International	ABIN487462
Anti-PE MicroBeads	Miltenyi Biotec	130-048-801
Anti-Mouse IgG MicroBeads	Miltenyi Biotec	130-048-402
Mini & MidiMACS Starting Kit	Miltenyi Biotec	130-091-632
MS Column	Miltenyi Biotec	130-042-201
LD Column	Miltenyi Biotec	130-042-901
Cardiotoxin	Sigma Aldrich	C9759-1MG	Stock 10 μM in PBS
31 G Insulin syringe	BD Biosciences	328438
Refrigerated Microcentrifuge (Microfuge 22R)	Beckman Coulter	368826
S241.5 Swinging Bucket Rotor	Beckman Coulter	368882
Refrigerated Centrifuge (Allegra X-22R)	Beckman Coulter	392187
Nod/Scid immunodeficient mice	Charles River Laboratories	Strain Code 394	Use 2 months old mice
Reagents			Recipe
10% and 2% FBS DMEM			DMEM (Gibco-Invitrogen #10569010) with 10% or 2% FBS (Fisher Scientific #03600511) and 1% Penicillin/Streptomycin (Gibco-Invitrogen #15640055).
0.2% Collagenase solution			Collagenase Type 2 (Worthington, #CLS-2), Stock: 50 ml: 100 mg Collagenase Type 2 in 10% FBS DMEM.
10% Matrigel solution			Matrigel (BD Biosciences: #356234) is placed on ice for thawing overnight. Five ml Matrigel is dilute by 45 ml DMEM and 5 ml aliquots are stored at -20 °C until use.
Matrigel-coated plate			Five ml of 10% Matrigel solution is placed on ice for thawing and is used for coating 10 cm plate at room temperature for 1 min. The plate is placed in 5% CO2 incubator at 37 °C for 30 min after removing Matrigel solution, and let the plate dry in culture hood for another 30 min. Removed 10% Matrigel solution is stored at -20 °C for reuse.
0.01% Collagen solution			Mix to final: 0.01% Collagen (Collagen, Rat Tail: BD Biosciences #354236) in 0.2% acetic acid (320099-500ML) in ddH2O.
Collagen-coated plate			Add 5 ml or 2 ml of Collagen solution to a 10 cm or 6 cm tissue culture plate and let sit at room temperature for three hours. Then, aspirate off liquid and allow to dry in culture hood for 30 min to overnight. Plates can be stored at room temperature for several months.
bFGF stock solution			bFGF, Human, Recombinant (Gibco-Invitrogen #PHG0263, 1 mg) is dissolved with 0.1% BSA solution consisting of 1 mg BSA (Sigma-Aldrich #A5611-1G) and 2 ml ddH2O (0.5 mg/ml bFGF). Aliquot 20 μl in 500 μl microcentrifuge tubes and kept in -80 °C.
Myoblast medium			500 ml HAM’S F10 Medium (Gibco-Invitrogen #11550-043) supplemented with 20% FBS (Fisher Scientific #03600511), Penicillin/streptomycin (Gibco-Invitrogen #15640055), and 10 μg of bFGF (20 μl of bFGF stock).
Differentiation medium			500 ml DMEM (Gibco-Invitrogen #10569010) supplemented with 5% Horse serum (Gibco-Invitrogen #26050088) and 1% Penicillin/streptomycin (Gibco-Invitrogen #15640055).
10 μM Cardiotoxin stock			1 mg Cardiotoxin (EMD Millipore #217504-1MG) is dissolved with 13.9 ml PBS.