Colorectal Cancer Cell Surface Protein Profiling Using an Antibody Microarray and Fluorescence Multiplexing

Summary

We described a procedure for the disaggregation of colorectal cancer (CRC) to produce viable single cells, which are then captured on customized antibody microarrays recognizing surface antigens (DotScan CRC microarray). Sub-populations of cells bound to the microarray can be profiled by fluorescence multiplexing using monoclonal antibodies tagged with fluorescent dyes.

Abstract

The current prognosis and classification of CRC relies on staging systems that integrate histopathologic and clinical findings. However, in the majority of CRC cases, cell dysfunction is the result of numerous mutations that modify protein expression and post-translational modification¹.

A number of cell surface antigens, including cluster of differentiation (CD) antigens, have been identified as potential prognostic or metastatic biomarkers in CRC. These antigens make ideal biomarkers as their expression often changes with tumour progression or interactions with other cell types, such as tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and tumour-associated macrophages (TAMs).

The use of immunohistochemistry (IHC) for cancer sub-classification and prognostication is well established for some tumour types^2,3. However, no single ‘marker’ has shown prognostic significance greater than clinico-pathological staging or gained wide acceptance for use in routine pathology reporting of all CRC cases.

A more recent approach to prognostic stratification of disease phenotypes relies on surface protein profiles using multiple 'markers'. While expression profiling of tumours using proteomic techniques such as iTRAQ is a powerful tool for the discovery of biomarkers4, it is not optimal for routine use in diagnostic laboratories and cannot distinguish different cell types in a mixed population. In addition, large amounts of tumour tissue are required for the profiling of purified plasma membrane glycoproteins by these methods.

In this video we described a simple method for surface proteome profiling of viable cells from disaggregated CRC samples using a DotScan CRC antibody microarray. The 122-antibody microarray consists of a standard 82-antibody region recognizing a range of lineage-specific leukocyte markers, adhesion molecules, receptors and markers of inflammation and immune response⁵, together with a satellite region for detection of 40 potentially prognostic markers for CRC. Cells are captured only on antibodies for which they express the corresponding antigen. The cell density per dot, determined by optical scanning, reflects the proportion of cells expressing that antigen, the level of expression of the antigen and affinity of the antibody⁶.

For CRC tissue or normal intestinal mucosa, optical scans reflect the immunophenotype of mixed populations of cells. Fluorescence multiplexing can then be used to profile selected sub-populations of cells of interest captured on the array. For example, Alexa 647-anti-epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM; CD326), is a pan-epithelial differentiation antigen that was used to detect CRC cells and also epithelial cells of normal intestinal mucosa, while Phycoerythrin-anti-CD3, was used to detect infiltrating T-cells⁷. The DotScan CRC microarray should be the prototype for a diagnostic alternative to the anatomically-based CRC staging system.

Protocol

Figure 1. Work flow for preparation of a suspension of live cells from a surgical sample of CRC.

1. Clinical sample disaggregation

All samples were collected from the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (Camperdown, NSW, Australia) and Concord Repatriation Hospital (Concord West, NSW, Australia) with informed consent under Protocol No. X08-164.

1. Collect fresh color....

Discussion

In this video, we demonstrate how the DotScan antibody microarray can be used in a simple, semi-quantitative way to study surface antigen profiles for cell populations from CRC tissue.

Obtaining a viable single cell suspension from tissue is critical to the success of the experiment, because energy-dependent processes (eg., antigen capping and/or pseudopodia formation) appear to be required for firm binding of whole cells to antibody dots during incubation, while dead cells are subsequently wa.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Hanks’ balanced salt solution	Sigma-Aldrich	H6136-10X1L	Buffered with 25 mM Hepes (Sigma #H3375)
Airpure biological safety cabinet class II	Westinghouse	1687-2340/612
Surgical blades	Livingstone	090609	Pack of 100
RPMI 1640 with 2 mM Hepes	Sigma-Aldrich	R4130-10X1L
Collagenase type 4	Worthington Biochemical	4188
Deoxyribonuclease 1	Sigma-Aldrich	DN25-1G
Terumo Syringe (10 mL)	Terumo Medical Corp.	SS+10L	Box of 100
Filcon filter (200 μm)	BD Biosciences	340615
Filcon filter (50 μm)	Filcon filter (50 µm)	Filcon filter (50 µm) Filcon filter (50 µm) 340603
Fetal calf serum	GIBCO, by Life Technologies	10099-141
Centrifuge 5810 R	Eppendorf	7017
Dimethyl sulphoxide	Sigma-Aldrich	D2650
Trypan blue	Sigma-Aldrich	T8154
Hemocymeter Technocolor Neubar	Hirschmann	not available
Light microscope	Nikon Instruments	Nikon TMS
Cyrovial tubes	Greiner Bio-One	121278
Cryo freezing contrainer	Nalge Nunc international	5100-0001
DotScan antibody microarray kit	Medsaic	not available
DotScan microarray wash tray	Medsaic	not available
KimWipes	Kimberly-Clark Corporation	4103
Formaldehyde 37%	Sigma-Aldrich	F1635-500ML
DotReaderTM	Medsaic	not available
Bovine serum albumin	Sigma-Aldrich	A9418-10G
Heat-inactivated AB serum 2%	Invitrogen	34005100
Phyc–rythrin-conjugated CD3	Beckman Coulter Inc.	ET386
AlexaFluor647-conjugated EpCAM	BioLegend	324212
Typhoon FLA 9000	GE Healthcare	28-9558-08	532 nm laser, 580 BP30 emission filter for PE. 633 nm laser and 670 BP30 emission filter for Alexa647
MultiExperiment Viewer v4.4	TM4 Microarray Software Suite	Open – source software (Ref 11)