Indirect Immunofluorescence on Frozen Sections of Mouse Mammary Gland

Summary

The indirect immunofluorescence protocol described in this article allows the detection and the localization of proteins in the mouse mammary gland. A complete method is given to prepare mammary gland samples, to perform immunohistochemistry, to image the tissue sections by fluorescence microscopy, and to reconstruct images.

Abstract

Indirect immunofluorescence is used to detect and locate proteins of interest in a tissue. The protocol presented here describes a complete and simple method for the immune detection of proteins, the mouse lactating mammary gland being taken as an example. A protocol for the preparation of the tissue samples, especially concerning the dissection of mouse mammary gland, tissue fixation and frozen tissue sectioning, are detailed. A standard protocol to perform indirect immunofluorescence, including an optional antigen retrieval step, is also presented. The observation of the labeled tissue sections as well as image acquisition and post-treatments are also stated. This procedure gives a full overview, from the collection of animal tissue to the cellular localization of a protein. Although this general method can be applied to other tissue samples, it should be adapted to each tissue/primary antibody couple studied.

Introduction

The mammary gland is an atypical mammalian exocrine organ whose main function is to produce milk to feed newborns. The development of the mammary tissue occurs mainly after birth and is characterized by a unique process in which the epithelium invades the surrounding stroma. This tissue undergoes many changes (growth, differentiation and regression), especially during the adult life, concomitantly with variations in reproductive status (Figure 1). In addition to the overall morphology of the tissue, the proportions of different cell types as well as their arrangement within the mammary gland dramatically change during development^1-5.

Protocol

CD1 mice were bred at INRA (UE0907 IERP, Jouy-en-Josas, France). All ethical aspects of animal care complied with the relevant guidelines and licensing requirements laid down by the French Ministry of Agriculture. The procedures used were approved by the local ethics committee (agreement 12/097 from the Comethea Jouy-en-Josas/AgroParisTech).

1. Mammary Gland Sample Preparation

1. Mouse mammary gland dissection
   1. Euthanize mice at day 10 of lactation by cervical dislocation and pin the animal down with its abdomen facing up. 
   2. Wet the ventral area with ethanol and dry it with a paper towel. 

Results

The mammary gland is a subcutaneous gland located along the ventral structure of both the thorax and the abdomen in rodents. The location of the five pairs of glands of the mouse during gestation is shown in Figure 4. The morphology of the mammary gland dramatically changes during its development, reflecting functional modifications required to prepare for full lactation (Figure 1B). In virgin or nulliparous animals, the mammary gland consists of a sparsely branched ductal e.......

Discussion

IHC is a relatively simple and straightforward experimental method to localize antigen in tissue sections, which depends primarily on specific epitope-antibody interactions. Although a large number of protocols are used to localize a protein by IIF, the core of these procedures is almost always the same. However, there are some critical aspects that can strongly influence the result and must therefore be optimized for each individual IHC study. The most challenging aspect of this approach is to determine the best experim.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Dissection
Pins
Ethanol
Scissors
Scalpel and adapted blades
Ice
Towel paper
Tissue sample preparation	Company	Catalog Number	Comments/Description
Phosphate Buffered Saline (pH7.4)	Sigma	P-3813
Paraformaldehyde (PFA, 32% EM grade, 100 ml)	Electron Microscopy Sciences	15714-S	personnal protection equipment required WARNING: this product will expose you to Formaldehyde Gas, a chemical known to cause cancer
OCT compound/Tissue Tek	Sakura	4583
Sucrose (D-saccharose)	VWR	27480.294
Plastic molds	Dominique Dutscher	39910
Liquid nitrogen
Cryostat/sample support	Leica	CM3050S
Razor blades (SEC35)	Thermo Scientific	152200
Slide box
Glass slides Superfrost/Superfrost Ultra Plus	Thermo Scientific	10143560W90/1014356190
Brushes
IHC	Company	Catalog Number	Comments/Description
Super Pap Pen	Sigma	Z377821-1EA
Permanent marker (black)
50 mM NH4Cl in PBS	Sigma	A-0171
0.1 M glycine in PBS	VWR	24403.367
Antigen Retrieval solution: Tris 100 mM 5% urea pH9.6
Heater (up to 100°C)
Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA)	Sigma	A7906-100G
Vectashield (anti-fading mounting medium) without DAPI/with DAPI	Vector Laboratories	H-1000/H-1200
Glass coverslips 22x50mm (microscopy grade)	VWR	CORN2980-225
Nail polish
Primary antibodies	Company	Catalog Number	Comments/Description
Rabbit anti-mouse caseins (#7781; 1:50 dilution)	generously gifted by M.C. Neville (University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, USA)
Mouse anti-cytokeratin 8 (CK8, clone 1E8, 1:50 dilution)	Biolegend (Covance)	MMS-162P
Mouse anti-cytokeratin 14 (CK14, cloneLL002, 1:50 dilution)	Thermo Scientific	MS-115-P0/P1
Rabbit anti-butyrophilin (1:300 dilution)	generously gifted by I.H. Mather (Department of Animal and Avian Sciences University of Maryland College Park, USA)
Rabbit anti-Stx6 (1:50 dilution)	generously gifted S. Tooze (Cancer Research UK, London Research Institute, London, UK)
Rabbit anti-VAMP4 (1:50 dilution)	Abcam	ab3348
Secondary antibodies	Company	Catalog Number	Comments/Description
Rhodamine-conjugated goat anti-rabbit IgG (H + L) (1:300 dilution)	Jackson ImmunoResearch Laboratories	111-025-003
Counterstains	Company	Catalog Number	Comments/Description
Bodipy 493/503	Life Technologies (Molecular Probes)	D-3922
DAPI (4-6-diamidino-2-phenylindole)	Life Technologies (Molecular Probes)	D-1306
Observation/Image capture	Company	Catalog Number	Comments/Description
conventional fluorescence microscope	Leica Leitz DMRB microscope		Standard filters for FITC, Rhodamine and DAPI emissions,                     ×63 oil-immersion objective (NA 1.3), DP50 imaging camera (Olympus), CellˆF software (Olympus)
Laser Scanning Microscope (confocal microscopy)	Zeiss LSM 510 microscope		Plan-Apochromat ×63 oil-immersion objective (NA 1.4),                  CLSM 510 software,               Confocal facilities, MIMA2 Platform, INRA Jouy-en-Josas, France, http://mima2.jouy.inra.fr/mima2)
Image treatment	Company	Catalog Number	Comments/Description
ImageJ 1.49k software			Free software