Manipulating the Murine Lacrimal Gland

Summary

The lacrimal gland (LG) is a branching organ that produces the aqueous components of tears necessary for maintaining vision and ocular health. Here we describe murine LG dissection and ex vivo culture techniques to decipher signaling pathways involved in LG development.

Abstract

The lacrimal gland (LG) secretes aqueous tears necessary for maintaining the structure and function of the cornea, a transparent tissue essential for vision. In the human a single LG resides in the orbit above the lateral end of each eye delivering tears to the ocular surface through 3 - 5 ducts. The mouse has three pairs of major ocular glands, the most studied of which is the exorbital lacrimal gland (LG) located anterior and ventral to the ear. Similar to other glandular organs, the LG develops through the process of epithelial branching morphogenesis in which a single epithelial bud within a condensed mesenchyme undergoes multiple rounds of bud and duct formation to form an intricate interconnected network of secretory acini and ducts. This elaborate process has been well documented in many other epithelial organs such as the pancreas and salivary gland. However, the LG has been much less explored and the mechanisms controlling morphogenesis are poorly understood. We suspect that this under-representation as a model system is a consequence of the difficulties associated with finding, dissecting and culturing the LG. Thus, here we describe dissection techniques for harvesting embryonic and post-natal LG and methods for ex vivo culture of the tissue.

Introduction

The lacrimal gland (LG) is responsible for aqueous tear secretion critical for visual acuity and the health, maintenance, and protection of the cells of the ocular surface. LG dysfunction results in one of the most common and debilitating ocular disorders: aqueous deficient Dry Eye Disease, which is characterized by ocular irritation, light sensitivity and decreased vision¹. In the human the LG resides in the orbit above the lateral end of the eye where 3 - 5 excretory ducts deposit tears onto the ocular surface. The mouse has three pairs of major ocular glands, the most studied of which is the lacrimal gland (LG) located anterior and ventral to the ear (ex....

Protocol

All animal work was performed under strict accordance with the recommendations in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of the National Institutes of Health. The protocol was approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) of the University of California, San Francisco.

1. Mouse Embryonic Lacrimal Glands (LG): Harvesting and Microdissection

1. Following procedures approved by the Institutional Animals for Scientific Research Ethics committee, euthanize timed pregnant CD-1 (or transgenic) females with rising CO₂ inhalation, followed by confirmation by cervical dislocation to harvest embr....

Results

The LG develops through the process of epithelial branching morphogenesis. Brightfield images of embryonic LGs dissected at e14, e15, e16, e17, and P2 illustrate this event.

Figure 1. The LG develops t.......

Discussion

The versatility to culture and manipulate the LG ex vivo provides significant advantages for studying its development. This includes the speed at which the researcher is able to test hypotheses and the multitude of perturbations that can be performed to assess how epithelial, neuronal, endothelial and mesencyhmal cells interact to form the organ. However, there are a number of caveats when utilizing this model. First, by virtue of its isolation the gland is no longer connected to the peripheral vasculature or ne.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
DMEM/F12 without HEPES	SH3027101	Thermo Scientific
Penicillin-Streptomycin	P0781	Sigma-Aldrich
Albumin solution from bovine serum	A9576	Sigma-Aldrich
Paraformaldehyde 16% Solution	15710	Electron Microscopy Sciences	Diluted to 4% in 1x PBS
Phosphate Buffered Saline 10x	BP665-1	Fisher Scientific
Phosphate Buffered Saline 1x			Prepared from 10x stock
holo-Transferrin bovine	T1283	Sigma-Aldrich	25 mg/ml stock solution in water. Freeze single-use aliquots at -20 °C. Add to DMEM/F12 media to a final concentration of 50 μg/ml.
L-ascorbic acid (Vitamin C)	A4544	Sigma-Aldrich	25 mg/ml stock solution in water. Freeze single-use aliquots at -20 °C. Add to DMEM/F12 media to a final concentration of 50 μg/ml.
BioLite 100 mm Tissue Culture Treated Dishes	130182	Thermo Scientific	Non-tissue culture-treated plates can also be used.
Stereo Microscope with substage iluminator	Stemi 2000	Carl Zeiss	Any stereo dissecting microscope can be used that has a transmitted light base.
Substage Illuminator Base for Stereo Microscope	TLB 4000	Diagnostics Instruments, Inc.
Falcon 35 mm Tissue Culture Treated Dishes	353001	Corning	Non-tissue culture-treated plates can also be used.
50 mm uncoated glass bottom dishes	P50G-1.5-14-F	MatTek Corporation
Widefield fluorescence microscope	Axio Observer Z1	Carl Zeiss	Any fluorescence microscope (upright, inverted or stereo dissecting microscope) can be used to monitor GFP expression at low magnification with an attached digital camera.
Confocal Microscope	TCS SP5	Leica Microsystems	Confocal microscopy is necessary to see detailed cell structures. Any confocal microscope can be used.
SWISS Micro-Fine Forceps, #5 (11.2 cm)	17-305X	Integra LifeSciences Corporation	Fine tips are required for removing mesenchyme from epithelium. Tungsten needles can also be used.
Dumont Standard Tip Forceps, #5 (11 cm)	91150-20	Fine Science Tools (USA), Inc.	Ideal for harvesting glands from embryos.
Reusable Plastic Surgical Knife Handles, style no. 3.	4-30	Integra LifeSciences Corporation
Stainless Steel Sterile Surgical Blades, no. 10	4-310	Integra LifeSciences Corporation
RNAqueous-Micro Total RNA Isolation Kit	AM1931	Life Technologies
Cultrex 3D Culture Matrix Laminin I	3446-005-01	Trevigen	6 mg/ml stock diluted 1:1 with DMEM/F12
Timed-pregnant Crl:CD1(ICR) mice		Charles River Labs	Embryos are harvested on day 14 (with day of plug discovery designated as day 0).
Nucleopore Track-Etched Hydrophilic Membranes, 0.1 μm pore size, 13 mm	110405	Whatman
Timed-pregnant Pax6-Cre, GFP mice	Tg(Pax-Cre, GFP)1Pgr	The Jackson Laboratory	Optional mice for learning how to locate the LG.