Single-cell Transcriptomic Analyses of Mouse Pancreatic Endocrine Cells

Summary

We describe a method for the isolation of endocrine cells from embryonic, neonatal and postnatal pancreases followed by single-cell RNA sequencing. This method allows analyses of pancreatic endocrine lineage development, cell heterogeneity and transcriptomic dynamics.

Abstract

Pancreatic endocrine cells, which are clustered in islets, regulate blood glucose stability and energy metabolism. The distinct cell types in islets, including insulin-secreting β cells, are differentiated from common endocrine progenitors during the embryonic stage. Immature endocrine cells expand via cell proliferation and mature during a long postnatal developmental period. However, the mechanisms underlying these processes are not clearly defined. Single-cell RNA-sequencing is a promising approach for the characterization of distinct cell populations and tracing cell lineage differentiation pathways. Here, we describe a method for the single-cell RNA-sequencing of isolated pancreatic β cells from embryonic, neonatal and postnatal pancreases.

Introduction

The pancreas is a vital metabolic organ in mammals. The pancreas is comprised of endocrine and exocrine compartments. Pancreatic endocrine cells, including insulin-producing β cells and glucagon-producing α cells, cluster together in the islets of Langerhans and coordinately regulate systemic glucose homeostasis. Dysfunction of the endocrine cells results in diabetes mellitus, which has become a major public health issue worldwide.

Pancreatic endocrine cells are derived from Ngn3⁺ progenitors during embryogenesis¹. Later, during the perinatal period, the endocrine cells proliferate to form immatu....

Protocol

All methods described here have been approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) of Peking University.

1. Pancreas Isolation

1. For E17.5 (embryonic day 17.5) embryos:
   1. Estimate embryonic day 0.5 based on the time point when the vaginal plug appears.
   2. Sacrifice the pregnant mice by CO₂ administration. Spray the abdominal fur with 70% alcohol.
   3. Make a V-shaped incision with scissors from the genital area extending to the ribs. This process will completely open the abdominal cavity.
   4. Dissect the uterus out of the abdominal cavity and place it....

Results

Pancreases were dissected from embryonic, neonatal and postnatal mice (Figure 2A and 2B). For mice older than postnatal day 18, the digestive effect depends on the degree of perfusion; therefore, the injection is the most important step for islet isolation (Figure 2C-2E and Table 6). As much collagenase was injected as was possible to fill the pancreas during thi.......

Discussion

In this protocol, we demonstrated an effective and easy-to-use method for studying the single-cell expression profiles of pancreatic β cells. This method could be used to isolate endocrine cells from embryonic, neonatal and postnatal pancreases and to perform single-cell transcriptomic analyses.

The most critical step is the isolation of single β cells in good condition. Fully perfused pancreases respond better to subsequent digestion. Insufficient perfusion, which usually occurs in .......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Collagenase P	Roche	11213873001
Trypsin-EDTA (0.25 %), phenol red	Thermo Fisher Scientific	25200114
Fetal bovine serum (FBS)	Hyclone	SH30071.03
Dumont #4 Forceps	Roboz	RS-4904
Dumont #5 Forceps	Roboz	RS-5058
30 G BD Needle 1/2" Length	BD	305106
Stereo Microscope	Zeiss	Stemi DV4
Stereo Fluorescence microscope	Zeiss	Stereo Lumar V12
Centrifuge	Eppendorf	5810R
Centrifuge	Eppendorf	5424R
Polystyrene Round-Bottom Tube with Cell-Strainer Cap	BD-Falcon	352235
96-Well PCR Microplate	Axygen	PCR-96-C
Silicone Sealing Mat	Axygen	AM-96-PCR-RD
Thin Well PCR Tube	Extragene	P-02X8-CF
Cell sorter	BD Biosciences	BD FACSAria
Capillary pipette	Sutter	B100-58-10
RNaseZap	Ambion	AM9780
ERCC RNA Spike-In Mix	Life Technologies	4456740
Distilled water	Gibco	10977
Triton X-100	Sigma-Aldrich	T9284
dNTP mix	New England Biolabs	N0447
Recombinant RNase Inhibitor	Takara	2313
Superscript II reverse transcriptase	Invitrogen	18064-014
First-strand buffer (5x)	Invitrogen	18064-014
DTT	Invitrogen	18064-014
Betaine	Sigma-Aldrich	107-43-7
MgCl2	Sigma-Aldrich	7786-30-3
Nuclease-free water	Invitrogen	AM9932
KAPA HiFi HotStart ReadyMix (2x)	KAPA Biosystems	KK2601
VAHTS DNA Clean Beads XP beads	Vazyme	N411-03
Qubit dsDNA HS Assay Kit	Invitrogen	Q32854
AceQ qPCR SYBR Green Master Mix	Vazyme	Q121-02
TruePrep DNA Library Prep Kit V2 for Illumina	Vazyme	TD502	Include 5x TTBL, 5x TTE, 5x TS, 5x TAB, TAE
TruePrep Index Kit V3 for Illumina	Vazyme	TD203	Include 16 N6XX and 24 N8XX
High Sensitivity NGS Fragment Analysis Kit	Advanced Analytical Technologies	DNF-474
1x HBSS without Ca2+ and Mg2+			138 mM NaCl; 5.34 mM KCl 4.17 mM NaHCO3; 0.34 mM Na2HPO4 0.44 mM KH2PO4
Isolation buffer			1 × HBSS containing 10 mM HEPES, 1 mM MgCl2, 5 mM Glucose, pH 7.4
FACS buffer			1 × HBSS containing 15 mM HEPES, 5.6 mM Glucose, 1% FBS, pH 7.4
NaCl	Sigma-Aldrich	S5886
KCl	Sigma-Aldrich	P9541
NaHCO3	Sigma-Aldrich	S6297
Na2HPO4	Sigma-Aldrich	S5136
KH2PO4	Sigma-Aldrich	P5655
D-(+)-Glucose	Sigma-Aldrich	G5767
HEPES	Sigma-Aldrich	H4034
MgCl2	Sigma-Aldrich	M2393
Oligo-dT30VN primer			5'-AAGCAGTGGTATCAA CGCAGAGTACT30VN-3'
TSO			5'-AAGCAGTGGTATCAAC GCAGAGTACATrGrG+G-3'
ISPCR primers			5'-AAGCAGTGGTAT CAACGCAGAGT-3'
Gapdh Forward primer			5'-ATGGTGAAGGTC GGTGTGAAC-3'
Gapdh Reverse primer			5'-GCCTTGACT GTGCCGTTGAAT-3'
Ins2 Forward primer			5'-TGGCTTCTTC TACACACCCA-3'
Ins2 Reverse primer			5'-TCTAGTTGCA GTAGTTCTCCA-3'