Dissection, Culture, and Analysis of Xenopus laevis Embryonic Retinal Tissue

Summary

Xenopus laevis provides an ideal model system for studying cell fate specification and physiological function of individual retinal cells in primary cell culture. Here we present a technique for dissecting retinal tissues and generating primary cell cultures that are imaged for calcium activity and analyzed by in situ hybridization.

Abstract

The process by which the anterior region of the neural plate gives rise to the vertebrate retina continues to be a major focus of both clinical and basic research. In addition to the obvious medical relevance for understanding and treating retinal disease, the development of the vertebrate retina continues to serve as an important and elegant model system for understanding neuronal cell type determination and differentiation^1-16. The neural retina consists of six discrete cell types (ganglion, amacrine, horizontal, photoreceptors, bipolar cells, and Müller glial cells) arranged in stereotypical layers, a pattern that is largely conserved among all vertebrates ^12,14-18.

While studying the retina in the intact developing embryo is clearly required for understanding how this complex organ develops from a protrusion of the forebrain into a layered structure, there are many questions that benefit from employing approaches using primary cell culture of presumptive retinal cells ^7,19-23. For example, analyzing cells from tissues removed and dissociated at different stages allows one to discern the state of specification of individual cells at different developmental stages, that is, the fate of the cells in the absence of interactions with neighboring tissues ^{8,19-22,24-33}. Primary cell culture also allows the investigator to treat the culture with specific reagents and analyze the results on a single cell level ^{5,8,21,24,27-30,33-39}. Xenopus laevis, a classic model system for the study of early neural development ^{19,27,29,31-32,40-42}, serves as a particularly suitable system for retinal primary cell culture ^10,38,43-45.

Presumptive retinal tissue is accessible from the earliest stages of development, immediately following neural induction ^25,38,43. In addition, given that each cell in the embryo contains a supply of yolk, retinal cells can be cultured in a very simple defined media consisting of a buffered salt solution, thus removing the confounding effects of incubation or other sera-based products ^10,24,44-45.

However, the isolation of the retinal tissue from surrounding tissues and the subsequent processing is challenging. Here, we present a method for the dissection and dissociation of retinal cells in Xenopus laevis that will be used to prepare primary cell cultures that will, in turn, be analyzed for calcium activity and gene expression at the resolution of single cells. While the topic presented in this paper is the analysis of spontaneous calcium transients, the technique is broadly applicable to a wide array of research questions and approaches (Figure 1).

Protocol

All experiments are performed following protocols approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at the College of William and Mary. Developmental stages referenced in this protocol are according to Nieuwkoop and Faber ⁴⁶.

1. Dissection

1. Allow the Cell Culture Medium and Calcium Magnesium Free Medium (CMF) to equilibrate to room temperature. You will also need 0.1X Marc's Modified Ringer's (MMR) pH 7.4-7.6.
2. Sterilize the following items by applying a UV light for 30 min in a cell culture laminar flow hood. (Spray each item with 70% ethanol before placing in the hood.)
   • 35 mm plastic Pe....

Results

Examples of successfully dissected optic vesicles (stage 25) and retinae (stage 35) are shown in Figures 2E and 2J. While this protocol can be used at various stages of development, it is critical to obtain only retinal tissue to ensure accuracy for further experiments. Carefully remove the epidermis at all stages and ensure that your forceps do not puncture the retinal tissue. In stage 35 or older, the lens can be seen as a clear layer on top of the retina and can be removed by cautious scraping .......

Discussion

With its well-characterized cell types that are conserved across all vertebrates, the retina provides a useful model for studying the molecular-cellular processes governing cell type specification and differentiation. Primary cell culture affords a powerful method for investigating a wide range of processes including gene expression, protein dynamics, and calcium and electrical activity at the level of single cell resolution. Here we present a straightforward technique for primary cell culture from dissected presumptive .......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
For Dissections and Culturing
BD Falcon Easy Grip Tissue Culture Dishes, 35 mm	Fisher	08-772A
Disposable Polystyrene Petri Dishes, 60 x 15 mm	Fisher	0875713A
35 mm Nunclon Surface Petri Dishes (with Airvent)	Fisher	12-565-91
Dumont Fine Forceps (Dumostar #55)	Fisher	NC9341917
Cellattice Micro-ruled plastic coverslip, 25 mm	Fisher	50-313-17
Ethyl-m-Aminobenzoate Methanesulfonate Salt (MS-222)	MP Biomedicals, LLC	103106
Gentamicin Sulfate	Enzo Life Sciences	380-003-G025
Gibco Trypsin (1:250) Powder	Life Technologies	27250-018
Collagenase B from Clostridium histolyticum	Roche	11088831001
Penicillin-Streptomycin	Gibco	15140-122
Nile Blue Sulfate (optional)	Pfaltz Bauer	N05550
500 ml Vacuum Filter/Storage Bottle System, 0.22 μm Pore 33.2 cm2 CN Membrane	Corning	430758
For Calcium Imaging
Fluo-4 AM 1 mM Solution in DMSO, Cell Permanent	Life Technologies	F-14217
Pluronic F-127 10% Solution in Water	Life Technologies	P-6866
LSM 510 Confocal Microscope System	Zeiss	Model Discontinued
Blocking Reagent	Roche	11096176001
For Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH)
Anti-Digoxigenin-POD, Fab Fragments	Roche	11207733910
Anti-DNP-HRP Antibody	Perkin-Elmer	NEL747A
Cy3 NHS ester	GE Healthcare	PA13101
NHS-Fluorescein	Thermo Scientific	46409
Formamide, Deionized	Amresco	0606-950ML
Torula RNA, Type IX	Sigma-Aldrich	R3629
Heparin Sodium Salt, from Porcine Intestinal Mucosa	Sigma-Aldrich	H3393-250KU
CHAPS	Sigma-Aldrich	C3023
Table 2. Specific reagents and equipment.
Solution Reference Contents Cell Culture Medium Chang and Spitzer , 200954 116 mM NaCl 0.67 mM KCl 2 mM CaCl2 1.31 mM MgSO4 4.6 mM Tris 1 % (v:v) Penicillin/Streptomycin Adjust pH to 7.8 with HCl. Filter sterilize by passing through a 0.22 μm CN filter. Store at 4 °C. Calcium-Magnesium Free Medium (CMF) Gu et al., 199442; Gu and Spitzer, 199555 116 mM NaCl 0.67 mM KCl 4.6 mM Tris 0.4 mM EDTA 1 % (v:v) Penicillin/Streptomycin Adjust pH to 7.8 with HCl. Filter sterilize by passing through a 0.22 μm CN filter. Store at 4 °C. Maleic Acid Buffer (MAB) Sive et al., 200053 100 mM maleic acid 150 mM NaCl (pH 7.5). Marc's Modified Ringers (MMR), 10X Sive et al., 200053 100 mM NaCl mM KCl 1 mM MgSO4 2 mM CaCl2 5 mM HEPES pH adjusted to 7.4 with NaOH 0.1X MMR also contains 50 mg/ml gentamicin sulfate and pH is adjusted to 7.4 with NaOH. MEMFA Solution, 10X Sive et al., 200053 0.1 M MOPS (Ph 7.4) 2 mM EGTA 1 mM MgSO4 3.7% formaldehyde A 10X solution, without formaldehyde, can be stored at 4 °C. Formaldehyde is added fresh (1/10 volume of a standard 37% stock). In situ Hybridization Buffer Sive et al., 200053 50% Formamide 5X SSC 1 mg/ml Torula RNA 100 mg/ml Heparin 1X Denhart's Solution 0.1% Tween 20 0.1% CHAPS 10 mM EDTA. Solutions. *Gentamicin, an antibiotic, is used in our MMR solutions while penicillin and streptomycin are used in our culture media.