Mitochondria and Endoplasmic Reticulum Imaging by Correlative Light and Volume Electron Microscopy

Summary

We present a protocol to study the distribution of mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum in whole cells after genetic modification using correlative light and volume electron microscopy including ascorbate peroxidase 2 and horseradish peroxidase staining, serial sectioning of cells with and without the target gene in the same section, and serial imaging via electron microscopy.

Abstract

Cellular organelles, such as mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum (ER), create a network to perform a variety of functions. These highly curved structures are folded into various shapes to form a dynamic network depending on the cellular conditions. Visualization of this network between mitochondria and ER has been attempted using super-resolution fluorescence imaging and light microscopy; however, the limited resolution is insufficient to observe the membranes between the mitochondria and ER in detail. Transmission electron microscopy provides good membrane contrast and nanometer-scale resolution for the observation of cellular organelles; however, it is exceptionally time-consuming when assessing the three-dimensional (3D) structure of highly curved organelles. Therefore, we observed the morphology of mitochondria and ER via correlative light-electron microscopy (CLEM) and volume electron microscopy techniques using enhanced ascorbate peroxidase 2 and horseradish peroxidase staining. An en bloc staining method, ultrathin serial sectioning (array tomography), and volume electron microscopy were applied to observe the 3D structure. In this protocol, we suggest a combination of CLEM and 3D electron microscopy to perform detailed structural studies of mitochondria and ER.

Introduction

Mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) are membrane-bound cellular organelles. Their connection is necessary for their function, and proteins related to their network have been described¹. The distance between the mitochondria and ER has been reported as approximately 100 nm using light microscopy²; however, recent super-resolution microscopy³ and electron microscopy (EM)⁴ studies have revealed it to be considerably smaller, at approximately 10-25 nm. The resolution achieved in super-resolution microscopy is lower than EM, and specific labeling is necessary. EM is a su....

Protocol

1. Cell culture with patterned grid culture dish and cell transfection with SCO1-APEX2 and HRP-KDEL plasmid vector

1. Seed 1 x 10⁵ HEK293T cells by placing them into 35-mm glass grid-bottomed culture dishes in a humidified atmosphere containing 5% CO₂ at 37 °C in Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium (DMEM) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum, 100 U/mL penicillin, and 100 U/mL streptomycin.
2. The day after seeding the cells, when they have grown to 50%-60% confluency, introduce the SCO1-APEX2¹⁰ and HRP-KDEL¹² plasmid to the cells using transfection reagent according to the manufacturerR....

Results

Figure 1 describes the schedule and workflow for this protocol. The protocol requires 7 days; however, depending on the time spent on SEM imaging, this may increase. For cell transfection, the confluency of the cells should be controlled so as not to cover the bottom of the entire grid plate (Figure 1A). A high cell density could prevent the identification of the cell of interest during light microscope and EM observation. We used genetically tagged plasmids that expressed APEX2 and HRP .......

Discussion

Determining the cellular localization of specific proteins at a nanometer resolution using EM is crucial to understand the cellular functions of proteins. Generally, there are two techniques to study the localization of a target protein via EM. One is the immunogold technique, which has been used in EM since 1960, and the other is a technique using recently developed genetically encoded tags¹⁶. Traditional immunogold techniques have employed antibody-conjugated gold particles or quantum dots to sh.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Glutaraldehyde	EMS	16200	Use only in fume hood
Paraformaldehyde	EMS	19210	Use only in fume hood
Sodium cacodylate	EMS	12300
Osmium tetroxide 4 % aqueous solution	EMS	16320	Use only in fume hood
Epon 812	EMS	14120	EMbed 812- 20 ml/ DDSA- 16 ml/ NMA- 8 ml/ DMP-30 - 0.8 ml
Ultra-microtome Leica ARTOS 3D	Leica	ARTOS 3D
Uranyl acetate	EMS	22400	Hazardous chemical
Lead citrate	EMS	17900
35mm Gridded coverslip dish	Mattek	P35G-1.5-14-CGRD
Glow discharger	Pelco	easiGlow
Formvar carbon coated Copper Grid	Ted Pella	01805-F
Hydrochloric acid	SIGMA	258148
Fugene HD	Promega	E2311
Glycine	SIGMA	G8898
3,3′ -diaminobenzamidine (DAB)	SIGMA	D8001	Hazardous chemical
30% Hydrogen peroxide solution	Merck	107210
Potassium hexacyanoferrate(II) trihydrate	SIGMA	P3289
0.22 um syringe filter	Sartorius	16534
Thiocarbonyldihydrazide	SIGMA	223220	Use only in fume hood
Potassium hydroxide	Fluka	10193426
L-aspartic acid	SIGMA	A9256
Ethanol	Merck	100983
Transmission electron microscopy	FEI	Tecnai G2
Indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass coverslips	SPI	06489-AB	fragil glass
Isopropanol	Fisher Bioreagents	BP2618-1
Diamond knife	Leica	AT-4
Inveted light microscopy	Nikon	ECLipse TS100
Scanning electron microscopy	Zeiss	Auriga