Mapping Metabolism: Monitoring Lactate Dehydrogenase Activity Directly in Tissue

Summary

We describe a protocol for mapping the spatial distribution of enzymatic activity for enzymes that generate nicotinatmide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NAD(P)H) + H+ directly in tissue samples.

Abstract

Mapping enzymatic activity in space and time is critical for understanding the molecular basis of cell behavior in normal tissue and disease. In situ metabolic activity assays can provide information about the spatial distribution of metabolic activity within a tissue. We provide here a detailed protocol for monitoring the activity of the enzyme lactate dehydrogenase directly in tissue samples. Lactate dehydrogenase is an important determinant of whether consumed glucose will be converted to energy via aerobic or anaerobic glycolysis. A solution containing lactate and NAD is provided to a frozen tissue section. Cells with high lactate dehydrogenase activity will convert the provided lactate to pyruvate, while simultaneously converting provided nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) to NADH and a proton, which can be detected based on the reduction of nitrotetrazolium blue to formazan, which is visualized as a blue precipitate. We describe a detailed protocol for monitoring lactate dehydrogenase activity in mouse skin. Applying this protocol, we found that lactate dehydrogenase activity is high in the quiescent hair follicle stem cells within the skin. Applying the protocol to cultured mouse embryonic stem cells revealed higher staining in cultured embryonic stem cells than mouse embryonic fibroblasts. Analysis of freshly isolated mouse aorta revealed staining in smooth muscle cells perpendicular to the aorta. The methodology provided can be used to spatially map the activity of enzymes that generate a proton in frozen or fresh tissue.

Introduction

Understanding the locations within tissues in which enzymes have high or low activity is essential for understanding development and physiology. Transcript or protein levels are often used as surrogates for enzymatic activity. While such studies can be informative, they do not provide information that can be critical for determining an enzyme's activity, such as post-translational modifications, the presence of protein complexes, or the enzyme's subcellular localization. When enzymatic activity is directly measured, it is often monitored in homogenized protein lysates that no longer contain information about individual cells within the mixture or the spatial d....

Protocol

All experiments described were approved by the Animal Care Committee at the University of California, Los Angeles.

1. Generate Slides of Frozen Mouse Skin

1. Euthanize mice in accordance with institution policy.
   Note: Follow institutional policy for protective clothing. All protocols involving animals must be approved by the Institutional Animal Care Committee.
2. Remove the mouse’s hair with an animal hair trimmer.
3. Make incisions in the skin using scissors. Using forceps, lift the skin away from the mouse. Using scissors, cut the skin section away.
4. Fill the cryomold with freezing reagent com....

Results

We have previously reported results for in situ activity assays in mouse skin²⁰. As shown in Figure 3, we observed high levels of lactate dehydrogenase activity in the hair follicle stem cells at the base of the hair follicle when the procedures described above were followed. These findings were corroborated by fluorescence activated cell sorting of skin for hair follicle stem cells and confirming high lactate dehydrogenase ac.......

Discussion

The method described here can be used to monitor the activity of lactate dehydrogenase or other metabolic enzymes that generate NADH or NADPH, in different cell types within a tissue or within different portions of a tissue over time. Lactate dehydrogenase is an important enzyme for understanding the biology of stem cells and tumors, and the ability to monitor lactate dehydrogenase activity in individual cells is likely to provide important insights into the function of this enzyme.

One import.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Surgical instruments			For collecting skin from euthanized mice
Tissue-tek cryomold 25 mm x 20 mm x 5 mm	Fisher Scientific	NC9511236	For freezing mouse skin
Tissue-Tek O.C.T. compound	Fisher Scientific	NC9638938	For mounting cryomolds
Ice bucket	Fisher Scientific	07-210-106
Dry Ice
Polysine Adhesion Slide	Fisher Scientific	12-545-78
4% formalin	Fisher Scientific	23-245-684	Dilluted in water
phosphate buffered saline, pH 7.4
vortex
Tris base	Fisher Scientific	23-245-684
NAD	Sigma-Aldrich	N7004
Phenazine methosulfate	Sigma-Aldrich	P9625
Nitrotetrazolium blue chloride	Sigma-Aldrich	N6876
Lithium L-lactate	Sigma-Aldrich	L2250	Substrate
37°C incubator (or tissue culture incubator)
Braziliant! Counter stain	Anatech	861	Counter stain
Mounting medium	Vector Laboratories	H-5000
Cover slips for slides	Fisher Scientific	12-544D
Light microscope