Presented here is a protocol to study the coronary microcirculation in living murine heart tissue by ex vivo monitoring of the arterial perfusion pressure and flow that maintains the pressure, as well as vascular tree components including the capillary beds and pericytes, as the septal artery is cannulated and pressurized.
Coronary arterial tone along with the opening or closing of the capillaries largely determine the blood flow to cardiomyocytes at constant perfusion pressure. However, it is difficult to monitor the dynamic changes of the coronary arterioles and the capillaries in the whole heart, primarily due to its motion and non-stop beating. Here we describe a method that enables monitoring of arterial perfusion rate, pressure and the diameter changes of the arterioles and capillaries in mouse right ventricular papillary muscles. The mouse septal artery is cannulated and perfused at a constant flow or pressure with the other dynamically measured. After perfusion with a fluorescently labeled lectin (e.g., Alexa Fluor-488 or -633 labeled Wheat-Germ Agglutinin, WGA), the arterioles and capillaries (and other vessels) in right ventricle papillary muscle and septum could be readily imaged. The vessel-diameter changes could then be measured in the presence or absence of heart contractions. When genetically encoded fluorescent proteins were expressed, specific features could be monitored. For examples, pericytes were visualized in mouse hearts that expressed NG2-DsRed. This method has provided a useful platform to study the physiological functions of capillary pericytes in heart. It is also suitable for studying the effect of reagents on the blood flow in heart by measuring the vascular/capillary diameter and the arterial luminal pressure simultaneously. This preparation, combined with a state-of-the-art optic imaging system, allows one to study the blood flow and its control at cellular and molecular level in the heart under near-physiological conditions.
Appropriate coronary pressure-flow regulation assures sufficient blood supply to the heart to meet its metabolic demands1. However, it has only recently become clear how coronary pressure-flow is dynamically regulated in heart, despite extensive studies that have been performed in vivo and in vitro for the past decades. One of the reasons is the difficulty in establishing a physiological working model for such studies due to the constant beating of the heart. Regardless, a variety of methods have been established for the observation of the coronary micro-vessels in living tissues or animals, but none of these methods were able to achieve constant/stable focus and the measurements of the pressure, flow and microvascular diameter at the same time2,3. The direct visualization of coronary arterial micro-vessels in beating heart was introduced decades ago4,3, but the diameter measurements in small vessels was challenging and the specific functions of the many specialized cell types associated with the microcirculation was equally vexing. Even the stroboscopic method and the floating objective system could not provide the above information simultaneously5. Nevertheless, a significant amount of valuable information has been obtained using the aforementioned technologies, which have helped us understanding more about the regulation of coronary blood flow6. The method we are describing in this paper will help one investigate and understand in detail how components of coronary arteries, the arterioles and the microvasculature respond differently to stimulations and metabolic demands.
The working model we established to pursue these studies was built on the previous work of Westerhof et al.2. Following cannulation of the septal artery of the mouse heart, physiological saline solution was used to perfuse that artery to keep the myocytes and other components of the heart tissue nourished. The arterial perfusion pressure, the flow and the vascular diameter was monitored among other physiological functions using appropriate fluorescent indicators. This method enables us to visualize the coronary microvascular bed under physiological pressure in living tissue and study the cellular mechanisms underlying microcirculation regulation for the first time.
All animal care was in accordance with the guidelines of the University of Maryland Baltimore and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee approved protocols.
1. Preparation of the solutions
NOTE: Prepare solutions in advance. Two types of basic solutions are used in the experiments: (1) physiological saline solutions (PSS) for bath superfusate and (2) Tyrode’s solutions for lumen perfusate. Continuous bubbling with CO2 is needed to maintain the pH of PSS. HEPES-buffered Tyrode’s solution is used in the lumen instead of PSS to avoid bubbles going into the vessels, since bubbles would damage the endothelial cells7 and occlude the flow.
2. Chamber preparation
3. Cannula preparation
4. Extraction of mouse heart
5. Preparation and cannulation of septal artery
6. Stabilization of the preparation
7. Loading the preparation with fluorescently tagged wheat-germ agglutinin (WGA)
8. Confocal imaging of arterioles and capillaries
9. Example vasodilator experiment: pinacidil-induced vasodilation (Video 1).
10. Example blood flow control experiments: vasoconstrictor-induced arterial perfusion pressure increase at constant flow (Figure 6)
11. Example images of capillary with pericytes (Figure 7)
When a fluorescence vascular marker is perfused in vascular lumen (here WGA conjugated with Alexa Fluor-488), it is possible to visualize whole vascular trees as shown in Figure 5 (Left panel) using high-speed confocal microscope. Further magnification enables the imaging of capillary in detail (Figure 5, Right Panel). Since the pressurized system supports a constant monitoring of luminal pressure, this preparation can be used for associate changes in arterial diameter with arterial pressure. Video 1 shows that when pinacidil, an ATP-sensitive K+ channel (KATP) agonist was served from lumen, the diameter of the arterioles was increased. Figure 6 shows that when vasoconstrictor ET-1 was applied from the lumen, the diameter of the arteriole was decreased, and the luminal pressure was increased when the flow was set constant.
Due to high-resolution capabilities of confocal microscopy in combination with specific cell markers, this procedure can also be used to visualize many other cells types associated with the microcirculation. Here, we used a mouse (NG2DsRedBAC transgenic mouse) that expresses DsRed fluorescence protein under a pericyte specific promoter (NG2) and labeled the vessels with WGA-Alexa Fluor 488. This allows us to image simultaneously both the capillary (green) and pericytes (red) in the mouse papillary muscle (Figure 7) under conditions that better mimic physiology in live animals.
Figure 1: Cannulation of the mouse septal artery.
(A) Transmitted light image shows an example of the cannulated papillary muscle. Micromanipulator, cannula and sample (septum with right ventricle papillary muscle) are indicated as labels. (B) Zoomed-in sample in A shows the papillary muscle and the cannulated septal artery. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 2: Equipment that was used in all the experiment.
(A) The main components of the setup that are used in the experiment. (B) Diagram illustrates the connections between the papillary muscle preparation and the physiological control experimental equipment. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 3: Measurement of pressure inside the cannula.
(A) An example to show how a cannula resistance was determined by measuring pressure inside the cannula over a range of flow (50-300 µl/min). (B) Relationship of the pressure inside the cannula with flow from 6 cannulae. The pressure inside the cannula was proportional to the flow and was fit by the expression Pc=0.08f-12.25, where Pc as pressure inside the cannula, f as flow. N=6 cannulae. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 4: Perfusion pressure change during stabilization at a constant flow.
(A) A typical recording of perfusion pressure during stabilization at a constant flow (~250 µL/min). Note the increase of perfusion pressure after 30 min of stabilization. (B) Statistics show the perfusion pressure before and after the stabilization when tone was developed. The average flow of the arterioles to maintain the initial pressure (~60 mmHg) is 201.7 ± 8.6 µL/min (n= 45 mice). Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 5: Imaging of capillaries and arterioles.
(A) The image shows the arterioles and capillaries that were loaded with wheat germ agglutinin (WGA). (B) Zoom in of the boxed area in A. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 6: ET-1 increases luminal pressure and decreases arterial diameter.
(A) The arterial diameter changed with the application of ET-1 (10 nM). (B) The WGA fluorescence profiles showing the diameter change by ET-1. The diameter of the arteriole was reflected by the distance between the peak intensity of the fluorescence on the arteriole wall. (C) The luminal pressure increased in the presence of ET-1 (10 nM) at a constant flow. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 7: Capillary with pericytes from NG2-DsRed mouse.
Cardiac pericytes (red) and capillaries (green) were imaged in pressurized (40 mmHg) and perfused mouse right ventricular papillary muscle. Right panel, the zoomed-in images of the boxed areas in the left panels. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Video 1: Pinacidil-induced vasodilation. Pinacidil (100 µM) was applied from the lumen. Vasodilation was seen in the arterial tree. Please click here to download this video.
The composition of physiological saline solution (PSS) | |||
Reagents | Final concentration (mM) | Molecular weight | g/10 Liters |
NaCl | 112 | 58.44 | 65.45 |
KCl | 5 | 74.55 | 3.73 |
MgSO4 | 1.2 | 120.37 | 1.44 |
NaH2PO4 | 1.2 | 119.98 | 1.44 |
NaHCO3 | 24 | 84.01 | 20.16 |
glucose | 10 | 180.16 | add 1.8 g glucose to 1 Liter PSS before use |
CaCl2 | 1.8 | 110.99 | add 1.8 ml 1 M CaCl2 to 1 Liter PSS before use |
The composition of Tyrode's solution | |||
Reagents | Final concentration (mM) | Molecular weight | g/L |
NaCl | 140 | 58.44 | 8.18 |
KCl | 5 | 74.55 | 0.37 |
NaH2PO4 | 0.33 | 119.98 | 0.04 |
HEPES | 10 | 238.3 | 2.38 |
glucose | 5.5 | 180.16 | 0.99 |
CaCl2 | 1.8 | 110.99 | add 1.8 ml 1 M CaCl2 solution |
MgCl2.6H2O | 0.5 | 203.3 | add 0.5 ml 1 M MgCl2 solution |
Note: Adjust pH to 7.4 with 1 M NaOH. |
Table 1: The composition of the solutions.
In the present work, we have introduced a remarkably simple yet highly practical ex vivo method to study the coronary microcirculation in heart under physiological conditions. This method was modified from mechanical investigations using rats2. The challenging addition was the imaging technology with high speed and high optical resolution. We, therefore, were able to take advantage of the advanced optical imaging systems that are now commercially available. By careful dissection and placement of the functioning papillary muscle preparation in a favorable position, we were able to visualize arterioles, pre-capillary arterioles, capillaries, and venules, as well as the pericytes and were able to measure arterial pressure and/or flow while controlling the other. The arteriole and capillary diameter changes were monitored using a highspeed spinning disk confocal microscope. The combination of the optical images and the internal perfusion of the physiological saline solution makes this preparation helpful in the evaluation of the effect of the biomedical treatments, as well as in the study of the mechanisms that are involved in the physiological and pathological regulation of blood flow in heart1.
Heart papillary muscles have been widely used in the study of cardiac physiology for many years. However, the absence of perfusion detracts from the physiology if characteristics of "work" or "metabolism" or "electrical activity" are being considered. Clearly, non-perfused papillary muscles are obviously not physiological. Nevertheless, decades ago, Westerhof et al. made the pressurized thin papillary preparation from rat to study the blood flow regulation2, but this preparation was not used in mice as we did here, due to the handling difficulties. These investigators also were not able to image the details needed to determine how blood flow regulation occurred. We were fortunate that the mouse septal artery is around 100 µm in diameter at ~60 mmHg perfusion pressure, smaller than that in rat, but large enough for our work. As a practical note, special attention needs to be given to the preparation of the cannula and the connected tubing. Avoid any bubbles in the tubing and cannula. Bubbles are easily trapped in the connected area and will block or distort blood flow. Therefore, double check these areas. In addition, it would be helpful to use a cannula with a relatively large tip as long as it is small enough to get into the artery, because a larger cannula keeps the artery open and enables smooth flow. If a sudden and unexpected increase in pressure (at constant flow) is observed during recording, it is very likely that the tip of the cannula has become stuck to the arterial wall or the cannula has been blocked by tissue debris. Therefore, the position of the cannula is very important to keep flow and pressure stable. The faster the cannulation, the better for the tissue. This leads to a more rapid recovery of its physiological function. We recommend that the time spent on cannulation not exceed ~45 min (from extraction of the heart till the completion of cannulation).
However careful one may be, this seemingly simple method takes practice to perfect. Sometimes the preparation does not respond to any stimulation, regardless of the care taken during the dissection or the rapidity and efficiency of the whole procedure. The bath temperature should be constant and between 35 to 37 °C. Another important thing is to run a routine reference check for tissue function (for example, the response to KCl) for each and every experiment, either before or after your experiment is done. We use ET-1 or KCl (70 mM) as references. Finally, it is very important to check and determine that the cannula is still in place when the experiment is done. Disregard the data if the cannula is out of place or the artery is broken or twisted by the tip of the cannula. Two important things worth noting center on the "movement of the preparation" and "data analysis". Even in “quiescence”, the preparation still moves (Video 1). Minor movement is not a problem for high speed spinning disk confocal imaging. Lowering perfusion pressure or using Na+ channel blockers can prevent or minimize the movement without interfering with microvascular vessel function. We did offline analysis of the acquired data using ImageJ-win64 (Fiji) and/or MATLAB with custom software for vessel diameter measurements. We do not detail the diameter analysis here because any software (e.g., Vasotracker11 ) should be able to analyze the diameter changes.
By combining the physiological investigations with optic imaging techniques and high speed confocal microscopy, this preparation can be widely used to 1) test the regulatory effect of new drugs on blood flow in heart; 2) Study intercellular communication (between and among cardiomyocytes, capillary endothelial cells, pericytes and arterial smooth muscle cells, and fibroblasts); and 3) Study the dynamic functional change of different cell types using fluorescence-tagged transgenic mice1. This method includes the visualization of parts of the heart tissue with networks under “near” physiology. Although we might be able to mimic in vivo conditions by pacing the preparation and/or including some red blood cells in the perfusate, it cannot replace true in vivo imaging with a full range of metabolic and work burdens. It might not be used on the large animals either due to limited depth of view of a confocal microscope. However, it should be a useful tool in the study of the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying coronary microcirculation regulation in small animals including mouse and rat. Similar notions can be expanded and adopted in the study of blood flow control in other tissues or organs including but not limited to gastrointestinal system, pancreas, thyroid, lymph nodes, liver, kidney, skeletal muscle, brain12, retina, ganglia, bone, skin, uterus, testis, ovaries, adrenals, fat etc. This approach will improve and advance the understanding of blood flow control and regulatory mechanisms at the cellular and molecular levels under physiological conditions.
The authors have nothing to disclose.
This work was supported in part by the Center for Biomedical Engineering and Technology (BioMET); NIH (1U01HL116321) and (1R01HL142290) and the American Heart Association 10SDG4030042 (GZ), 19POST34450156 (HCJ).
1 M CaCl2 solution | MilliporeSigma, USA | 21115 | |
1 M MgCl2 solution | MilliporeSigma, USA | M1028 | |
AxoScope software | Molecular Devices, San Jose, CA, USA | ||
Chiller/water incubator | FisherScientific, USA | Isotemp 3016S | |
Confocal | Nikon Instruments, USA | A1R | |
Custom glass tubing | Drummond Scientific Company | 9-000-3301 | |
Digidata 1322A | Molecular Devices, San Jose, CA, USA | ||
Dissecting microscope | Olympus, Japan | SZX12 | |
Endothelin-1 | MilliporeSigma, USA | E7764 | |
Forceps | Fine Scientific Tools | 11295-51 | |
Heparin Sodium Salt | Sigma-Aldrich, USA | H3393 | |
Inline solution Heater | Warner Istruments, Hamden, CT, USA | SH-27B | |
Isoflurane | VETone, Idaho, USA | 502017 | |
Micropipette puller | Sutter Instruments, Novato, CA, USA | P-97 | |
Micropipette/cannula holder | Warner Istruments, Hamden, CT, USA | 64-0981 | |
NG2DsRedBAC transgenic mouse | The Jackson Laboratory | #008241 | |
Nylon thread for tying blood vessels | Living Systems Instrumentation, Burlington, Vt, USA | THR-G | |
PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) | SYLGARD, Germantown, WI, USA | 184 SIL ELAST KIT | |
Peristaltic pump | Gilson, Middleton, WI, USA | minipuls 3 | |
Pressure Servo Controller | Living Systems Instrumentation, Burlington, Vt, USA | PS-200-S | |
Scissors | Fine Scientific Tools, Foster City, CA, USA | 15000-10 | |
Servo Pump | Living Systems Instrumentation, Burlington, Vt, USA | PS-200-P | |
Temperature controller | Warner Instruments, Hamden, CT, USA | TC-324B | |
Wheat Germ Agglutinin, Alexa Fluor 488 Conjugate | ThermoFisher Scientific, Waltham, MA USA | W11261 |