Laser Microdissection Applied to Gene Expression Profiling of Subset of Cells from the Drosophila Wing Disc

Summary

Laser microdissection was applied to analyse gene expression profiling in specific compartments of Drosophila wing disc subjected to localised RNAi in vivo. RNA extracted from equivalent areas of silenced and unsilenced compartments was analysed by quantitative RT-PCR to determine comparative gene expression profiling within the context of native tissue microecology.

Abstract

Heterogeneous nature of tissues has proven to be a limiting factor in the amount of information that can be generated from biological samples, compromising downstream analyses. Considering the complex and dynamic cellular associations existing within many tissues, in order to recapitulate the in vivo interactions thorough molecular analysis one must be able to analyze specific cell populations within their native context. Laser-mediated microdissection can achieve this goal, allowing unambiguous identification and successful harvest of cells of interest under direct microscopic visualization while maintaining molecular integrity. We have applied this technology to analyse gene expression within defined areas of the developing Drosophila wing disc, which represents an advantageous model system to study growth control, cell differentiation and organogenesis. Larval imaginal discs are precociously subdivided into anterior and posterior, dorsal and ventral compartments by lineage restriction boundaries. Making use of the inducible GAL4-UAS binary expression system, each of these compartments can be specifically labelled in transgenic flies expressing an UAS-GFP transgene under the control of the appropriate GAL4-driver construct. In the transgenic discs, gene expression profiling of discrete subsets of cells can precisely be determined after laser-mediated microdissection, using the fluorescent GFP signal to guide laser cut.

Among the variety of downstream applications, we focused on RNA transcript profiling after localised RNA interference (RNAi). With the advent of RNAi technology, GFP labelling can be coupled with localised knockdown of a given gene, allowing to determinate the transcriptional response of a discrete cell population to the specific gene silencing. To validate this approach, we dissected equivalent areas of the disc from the posterior (labelled by GFP expression), and the anterior (unlabelled) compartment upon regional silencing in the P compartment of an otherwise ubiquitously expressed gene. RNA was extracted from microdissected silenced and unsilenced areas and comparative gene expression profiling determined by quantitative real-time RT-PCR. We show that this method can effectively be applied for accurate transcriptomics of subsets of cells within the Drosophila imaginal discs. Indeed, while massive disc preparation as source of RNA generally assumes cell homogeneity, it is well known that transcriptional expression can vary greatly within these structures in consequence of positional information. Using localized fluorescent GFP signal to guide laser cut, more accurate transcriptional analyses can be performed and profitably applied to disparate applications, including transcript profiling of distinct cell lineages within their native context.

Protocol

Part 1. Preparation of Drosophila Imaginal Wing Discs Subjected to Specific and Localized RNAi.

As biological material, we used Drosophila imaginal wing discs obtained from transgenic larvae subjected to the localized and specific gene silencing by means of the GAL4/UAS system ¹. This larval progeny orginates from a genetic cross involving two parental lines: one carrying the GAL4 driver, the second the UAS responder. In addition to express GAL4 in a specific temporal and/or spatial pattern, the driver line carries an UAS-GFP reporter that allows to visualize the GAL4 expression domain. The UAS responder line exp....

Discussion

With respect to their basal expression levels achieved in the anterior/posterior compartments of unsilenced wing discs, the activity of the selected gene X was found reduced to 40% upon silencing. In contrast, one of its putative targets (genes Y) was found significantly up-regulated (7 fold-increase), leading us to validate the hypothesis that it was negatively regulated by gene X.

We conclude that the above described experimental approach can successfully be applied to the validation of put.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
DEPC water	Sigma-Aldrich	W4502
RNase Zap	Sigma-Aldrich	R2020
TRI Reagent	Sigma-Aldrich	T9424
SuperScript III	Invitrogen	18080093
Master Mix	Invitrogen	11761100
Agarose	Sigma-Aldrich	A9539
Isopropyl alcohol	Sigma-Aldrich	I9516
Chloroform	Sigma-Aldrich	C7559
Dream taq	Fermentas	EP0701
Fly strains Drosophila UAS-silencing lines can be obtained from VDRC RNAi collection 2. A collection of GAL4-driver lines is available at the Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center (Indiana, USA). Equipment Required equipment includes Laser microdissector (Leica LMD6000), Coulter Microfuge 22R (Beckman), PCR (BIO-RAD My Cycler), Real Time PCR (BIO-RAD iQ5). Tools Required tools include: glass wells, brush, microdissection forceps, hanging drop slides, insect pins mounted on syringe needles, metal frames with PET membrane, plastic tubes (50 ml, 05 ml, 0.25 ml).
Drosophila UAS-silencing lines can be obtained from VDRC RNAi collection 2. A collection of GAL4-driver lines is available at the Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center (Indiana, USA). Equipment Required equipment includes Laser microdissector (Leica LMD6000), Coulter Microfuge 22R (Beckman), PCR (BIO-RAD My Cycler), Real Time PCR (BIO-RAD iQ5). Tools Required tools include: glass wells, brush, microdissection forceps, hanging drop slides, insect pins mounted on syringe needles, metal frames with PET membrane, plastic tubes (50 ml, 05 ml, 0.25 ml).
Equipment Required equipment includes Laser microdissector (Leica LMD6000), Coulter Microfuge 22R (Beckman), PCR (BIO-RAD My Cycler), Real Time PCR (BIO-RAD iQ5). Tools Required tools include: glass wells, brush, microdissection forceps, hanging drop slides, insect pins mounted on syringe needles, metal frames with PET membrane, plastic tubes (50 ml, 05 ml, 0.25 ml).
Required equipment includes Laser microdissector (Leica LMD6000), Coulter Microfuge 22R (Beckman), PCR (BIO-RAD My Cycler), Real Time PCR (BIO-RAD iQ5). Tools Required tools include: glass wells, brush, microdissection forceps, hanging drop slides, insect pins mounted on syringe needles, metal frames with PET membrane, plastic tubes (50 ml, 05 ml, 0.25 ml).
Tools Required tools include: glass wells, brush, microdissection forceps, hanging drop slides, insect pins mounted on syringe needles, metal frames with PET membrane, plastic tubes (50 ml, 05 ml, 0.25 ml).
Required tools include: glass wells, brush, microdissection forceps, hanging drop slides, insect pins mounted on syringe needles, metal frames with PET membrane, plastic tubes (50 ml, 05 ml, 0.25 ml).