Quantification of Reactive Oxygen Species Using 2′,7′-Dichlorofluorescein Diacetate Probe and Flow-Cytometry in Müller Glial Cells

Summary

Here, we propose a systematized, accessible, and reproducible protocol to detect cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) using 2′,7′-dichlorofluorescein diacetate probe (DCFH-DA) in Müller glial cells (MGCs). This method quantifies total cellular ROS levels with a flow cytometer. This protocol is very easy to use, suitable, and reproducible.

Abstract

The redox balance has an important role in maintaining cellular homeostasis. The increased generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) promotes the modification of proteins, lipids, and DNA, which finally may lead to alteration in cellular function and cell death. Therefore, it is beneficial for cells to increase their antioxidant defense in response to detrimental insults, either by activating an antioxidant pathway like Keap1/Nrf2 or by improving redox scavengers (vitamins A, C, and E, β-carotene, and polyphenols, among others). Inflammation and oxidative stress are involved in the pathogenesis and progression of retinopathies, such as diabetic retinopathy (DR) and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Since Müller glial cells (MGCs) play a key role in the homeostasis of neural retinal tissue, they are considered an ideal model to study these cellular protective mechanisms. In this sense, quantifying ROS levels with a reproducible and simple method is essential to assess the contribution of pathways or molecules that participate in the antioxidant cell defense mechanism. In this article, we provide a complete description of the procedures required for the measurement of ROS with DCFH-DA probe and flow cytometry in MGCs. Key steps for flow cytometry data processing with the software are provided here, so the readers will be able to measure ROS levels (geometric means of FITC) and analyze fluorescence histograms. These tools are highly helpful to evaluate not only the increase in ROS after a cellular insult but also to study the antioxidant effect of certain molecules that can provide a protective effect on the cells.

Introduction

The neural retina is a very organized tissue that presents well-defined neuronal layers. In these, neurons (ganglion, amacrine, bipolar, horizontal, and photoreceptor cells) are interconnected to each other and also with Müller glial cells (MGCs) and astrocytes, leading to adequate phototransduction and processing of visual information^1,2. MGCs are known to have an important role in the maintenance of retinal homeostasis because they cross the entire retinal section and, thus, they can interact with all cell types that modulate multiple protective processes. It has been reported that MGCs have several imp....

Protocol

NOTE: For buffer compositions see Table 1.

1. Cell culture preparation

NOTE: Described here is the culture preparation of MIO-M1 cells, a spontaneously immortalized human Müller glial cell line (Moorfield's/Institute of Ophthalmology- Müller 1). Always use proper aseptic technique and work in a laminar flow hood.

1. Prepare Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) complete medium. To DMEM containing 4.5 g/L D-glucose and 110 mg/L sodium pyruvate, add 10% heat-inactivated FBS, 10 mM 4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazineethanesulfonic acid (HEPES), 2 mM L-....

Results

As described in the protocol section, we have shown representative and quantitative data demonstrating flow cytometry detection of ROS production with the fluorescence probe DCFH-DA from MIO-M1 cells stimulated with ROS inducer, A or B. As expected, we observed changes in FITC fluorescence in unstimulated cells above autofluorescence levels (Figure 1A, compare "basal control" vs. "autofluorescence control", dot plots graph). This occurred due to a basal production of ROS in the MIO-M1 cells........

Discussion

Several pathological conditions, such as cancer, inflammatory diseases, ischemia/reperfusion, ischemic heart disease, diabetes, and retinopathies, and also physiological situations like aging, lead to ROS overproduction^{6,7,8,9,10,11}. Therefore, the detection, measurement, and understanding of the pathway involved in the modul.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
2′,7′-DCFH-DA	Sigma	35845-1G
4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazineethanesulfonic acid (HEPES)	Gibco by life technologies	15630-080
BD FACSCanto II flow cytometer	BD Biosciences	FACSCanto
BD FACSDiva software	BD Biosciences
Cell Culture Dishes 100x20 mm	Cell Star- Greiner Bio-One	664 160
Centrifuge	Thermo	Sorvall legend micro 17 R
Centrifuge Tubes (15 ml)	BIOFIL	CFT011150
Centrifuge Tubes (50 ml)	BIOFIL	CFT011500
Cryovial	CRYO.S - Greiner Bio-One	126263
Dimethyl Sulfoxide	Sigma-Aldrich	W387520-1KG
Disodium-hydrogen-phosphate heptahydrate	Merck	106575
DMEM without phenol red	Gibco by life technologies	31053-028
Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium (DMEM)	Gibco by life technologies	11995065
Ethylenediamine Tetraacetic Acid (EDTA), Disodium Salt, Dihydrate	Merck	324503
Fetal Bovine Serum	Internegocios
FlowJo v10 Software	BD Biosciences
Glucose	Merck	108337
hemocytometer, Neubauer chamber	BOECO,Germany
Laminar flow hood	ESCO	AC2-6E8
L-glutamine (GlutaMAX)	Gibco by life technologies	A12860-01
MitoSOX Red	Invitrogen	M36008
Penicillin/Streptomycin	Gibco by life technologies	15140-122
Potassium Chloride	Merck	104936
Potassium-dihydrogen phosphate	Merck	4878
Round polystyrene tubes 5 ml (flow cytometry tubes)	Falcon - Corning	BD-352008
Sodium Azide	Merck	822335
Sodium Chloride	Merck	106404
Sodium Hydroxide	Merck	106462
SPINWIN Micro Centrifuge Tube 1.5 ml	Tarson	500010-N
Tissue Culture Plate 6 well	BIOFIL	TCP011006
Trypan Blue	Merck	111732
Trypsin-EDTA 0.5% 10X	Gibco by life technologies	15400-054
Vortex Mixer	Labnet International, Inc.