Quantitative Assessment of Human Neutrophil Migration Across a Cultured Bladder Epithelium

Summary

We developed an in vitro model that mimics an important component of the acute inflammatory response during infection of the bladder with uropathogenic Escherichia coli. The transuroepithelial neutrophil migration assay enables quantitative assessment of human neutrophil migration across bladder epithelia, cultured on permeable supports, in response to bacterial infection or chemoattractant substances.

Abstract

The recruitment of immune cells from the periphery to the site of inflammation is an essential step in the innate immune response at any mucosal surface. During infection of the urinary bladder, polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN; neutrophils) migrate from the bloodstream and traverse the bladder epithelium. Failure to resolve infection in the absence of a neutrophilic response demonstrates the importance of PMN in bladder defense. To facilitate colonization of the bladder epithelium, uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC), the causative agent of the majority of urinary tract infections (UTIs), dampen the acute inflammatory response using a variety of partially defined mechanisms. To further investigate the interplay between host and bacterial pathogen, we developed an in vitro model of this aspect of the innate immune response to UPEC. In the transuroepithelial neutrophil migration assay, a variation on the Boyden chamber, cultured bladder epithelial cells are grown to confluence on the underside of a permeable support. PMN are isolated from human venous blood and are applied to the basolateral side of the bladder epithelial cell layers. PMN migration representing the physiologically relevant basolateral-to-apical direction in response to bacterial infection or chemoattractant molecules is enumerated using a hemocytometer. This model can be used to investigate interactions between UPEC and eukaryotic cells as well as to interrogate the molecular requirements for the traversal of bladder epithelia by PMN. The transuroepithelial neutrophil migration model will further our understanding of the initial inflammatory response to UPEC in the bladder.

Introduction

The movement of cells throughout the body, often across long distances, is required for growth and development, wound healing, and immune response. Cell migration is complex and requires the coordination of many different processes, including signaling cascades and the rearrangement of cytoskeletal components. Cells can move randomly (chemokinesis) as well as toward defined chemical gradients (chemotaxis). Many techniques have been developed to study cell migration in vitro. The oldest and most common technique, the Boyden chamber, consists of a vertical two-chamber system where a chemoattractant substance is placed in the bottom chamber and cells of interest....

Protocol

1. Culturing 5637 Bladder Epithelial Cells

Perform the following steps in a laminar flow tissue-culture hood prepared with UV irradiation and wiped down with 70% ethanol.

1. Prepare RPMI-1640 medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) [termed RPMI+], filter sterilize using a 0.22 µm pore size filter, and warm to 37 °C in a water bath.
2. Thaw a cryovial of 5637 cells (American Type Culture Collection HTB-9; derived from bladder carcinoma) in a 37 °C water bath. Quickly transfer the thawed cells to a 75 cm² tissue culture flask containing 20 ml RPMI+.
3. Incubate the flask at 37 °C in....

Results

The transuroepithelial neutrophil migration assay enables the quantitative assessment of human PMN migration across cultured bladder epithelial cell layers in response to various stimuli (Figure 1B). While the protocol is straightforward, there are a number of variables that can influence PMN migration and consequently affect the reproducibility of this assay. Measures should be taken while preparing the permeable supports and the PMN to reduce variability between technical and biological replicates. For.......

Discussion

Using a cultured bladder epithelial cell line and freshly isolated human PMN, we established an in vitro model of transuroepithelial neutrophil migration. This model has been instrumental in beginning to dissect the complexities of the innate immune response during urinary tract infection (UTI), an extremely common bacterial infection typically caused by UPEC⁹. During infection of the bladder, or cystitis, recruitment of PMN to the bladder lumen is essential for bacterial clearance¹⁰. To es.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Transwell Inserts (i.e. permeable supports)	Corning	3472	6.5 mm, 3 μm pore, polyester membrane insert
BD Vacutainer Blood Collection Tubes	Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD)	366480	16 mm x 100 mm x 10 ml green cap tubes containing sodium heparin
BD Safety-Lok Blood Collection and Infusion Set	Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD)	367281	21 G x 0.75 in needle x 12 in tubing
BD Vacutainer one-use, nonstackable holder	Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD)	364815
Dextran	Sigma-Aldrich	D4876	From Leuconostoc mesenteroides
Ficoll-Paque PLUS density centrifugation solution	GE Healthcare	17-1440-02
Ultra-Low Attachment Plates	Corning	3473	24-well, clear flat bottom
N-Formyl-Met-Leu-Phe (fMLF)	Sigma-Aldrich	F3506	Reconstituted in DMSO to 10 mM
Recombinant Human CXCL8/IL-8	R&D Systems	208-IL	Reconstituted in PBS to 100 μg/ml