Dissection of Adult Mouse Stria Vascularis for Single-Nucleus Sequencing or Immunostaining

Summary

The stria vascularis is vital to the generation of endocochlear potential. Here, we present the dissection of the adult mouse stria vascularis for single-nucleus sequencing or immunostaining.

Abstract

Endocochlear potential, which is generated by the stria vascularis, is essential to maintain an environment conducive to appropriate hair cell mechanotransduction and ultimately hearing. Pathologies of the stria vascularis can result in a decreased hearing. Dissection of the adult stria vascularis allows for focused single-nucleus capture and subsequent single-nucleus sequencing and immunostaining. These techniques are used to study stria vascularis pathophysiology at the single-cell level.

Single-nucleus sequencing can be used in the setting of transcriptional analysis of the stria vascularis. Meanwhile, immunostaining continues to be useful in identifying specific populations of cells. Both methods require proper stria vascularis dissection as a prerequisite, which can prove to be technically challenging.

Introduction

The cochlea consists of three fluid filled chambers, the scala vestibuli, scala media, and scala tympani. The scala vestibuli and scala tympani each contain perilymph, which has a high concentration of sodium (138 mM) and a low concentration of potassium (6.8 mM)¹. The scala media contains endolymph, which has a high concentration of potassium (154 mM) and a low concentration of sodium (0.91 mM)^1,2,3. This difference in ion concentration can be referred to as the endocochlear potential (EP), and is primarily generated by the movement of potassium ions through various ion channels and gap junctions in the stria vascularis (SV) along the lateral wall of the cochlea^{4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11}. The SV is a heterogenous, highly vascularized tissue that lines the medial aspect of the lateral wall of the cochlea and contains three main cell types: marginal, intermediate, and basal cells¹² (Figure 1).

Marginal cells are connected by tight junctions to form the most medial surface of the SV. The apical membrane faces the endolymph of the scala media and contributes to potassium ion transport into the endolymph using various channels, including KCNE1/KCNQ1, SLC12A2, and Na⁺–K⁺-ATPase (NKA)^5,10,13,14. Intermediate cells are pigmented cells that reside between marginal and basal cells and facilitate potassium transport through the SV using KCNJ10 (Kir 4.1)^15,16. Basal cells lie in close proximity to the lateral wall of the cochlea and are closely associated with fibrocytes of the spiral ligament to promote potassium recycling from the perilymph¹². Pathology of the SV has been implicated in numerous otologic disorders^17,18. Mutations in genes expressed in the major SV cell types, such as Kcnq1, Kcne1, Kcnj10, and Cldn11, can cause deafness and SV dysfunction, including the loss of EP^{19,20,21,22,23}. In addition to the three major cell types, there are other less-studied cell types in the SV, such as spindle cells²², root cells^12,24, macrophages²⁵, pericytes²⁶, and endothelial cells²⁷, that have incompletely defined roles involving ionic homeostasis and the generation of EP²⁸.

In comparison to bulk RNA-sequencing, single-nuclei RNA-sequencing (sNuc-Seq) provides information about cell heterogeneity, rather than an average of mRNA across a group of cells²⁹, and can be particularly useful when studying the heterogenous SV³⁰. For example, sNuc-Seq has produced transcriptional analysis that suggests there may be a role for spindle and root cells in EP generation, hearing loss, and Meniere's disease¹⁸. Further transcriptional characterization of the various SV cell types can provide us with invaluable information on the pathophysiology underlying different mechanisms and subtypes of SV-related hearing fluctuation and hearing loss. The harvest of these delicate inner ear structures is of paramount importance to optimal tissue analysis.

In this study, the microdissection approach to access and isolate the stria vascularis from the adult mouse cochlea for sNuc-Seq or immunostaining is described. Dissection of the adult mouse SV is required to understand various SV cell types and further characterize their role in hearing.

Protocol

All animal experiments and procedures were performed according to protocols approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee of the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke and the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health. All experimental protocols were approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee of the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke and the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of …

Representative Results

We present a method to isolate the SV to be used for either sNuc-Seq or immunostaining. The relevant anatomy (Figure 1) of the cochlea relative to the SV can help users better understand the organization of the SV and steps of the dissection protocol. Each step of this microdissection of SV from a P30 mouse is detailed in the associated video, and snapshots of the key steps of this dissection and isolation of SV are presented in Figure 2</stro…

Discussion

Prior to the advent of single-cell sequencing, many researchers used bulk tissue analysis, which only made it possible to analyze transcriptomes averaged across cells. In particular, single-cell and sNuc-Seq made it possible to isolate the transcriptome of a single cell or single nucleus, respectively³². In this instance, single-nucleus transcriptomes can be identified for marginal, intermediate, and basal cells, as well as spindle cells³⁰. This enables the investigation of…

Materials

10-µm filter (Polyethylenterephthalat)	PluriSelect	#43-50010-01	Filter tissue during sNuc-Seq
18 x 18 mm cover glass	Fisher Scientific	12-541A	Cover slip to mount SV
30-µm filter (Polyethylenterephthalat)	PluriSelect	#43-50030-03	Filter tissue during sNuc-Seq
75 x 25 mm Superfrost Plus/Colorforst Plus Microslide	Daigger	EF15978Z	Microslide to mount SV on
C57BL/6J Mice	The Jackson Laboratory	RRID: IMSR_JAX:000664	General purpose mouse strain that has pigment more easily seen in the intermediate cells of the SV.
Cell Counter	Logos Biosystems	L20001	Used for cell counting
Chalizon curette 5'', size 3 2.5 mm	Biomedical Research Instruments	15-1020	Used to transfer SV
Chromium Next GEM single Cell 3' GEM Kit v3.1	Chromium	PN-1000141	Generates single cell 3' gene expression libraries
Clear nail polish	Fisher Scientific	NC1849418	Used for sealing SV mount
Corning Falcon Standard Tissue Culture Dishes, 24 well	Corning	08-772B	Culture dish used to hold specimen during dissection
DAPI	Invitrogen	D1306, RRID: AB_2629482	Stain used for nucleus labeling
Dounce homogenizer	Sigma-Aldrich	D8938	Used to homogenize tissue for sNuc-seq
Dumont #5 Forceps	Fine Science Tools	11252-30	General forceps for dissection
Dumont #55 Forceps	Fine Science Tools	11255-20	Forceps with fine tip that makes SV manipulation easier
Fetal Bovine Serum	ThermoFisher	16000044	Used for steps of sNuc-Seq
Glue stick	Fisher Scientific	NC0691392	Used for mounting SV
GS-IB4 Antibody	Molecular Probes	I21411, RRID: AB-2314662	Antibody used for capillary labeling
KCNJ10-ZsGreen Mice	n/a	n/a	Transgenic mouse that expresses KCNJ10-ZsGreen, partiularly in the intermediate cells of the SV.
MgCl2	ThermoFisher	AM9530G	Used for steps of sNuc-Seq
Mounting reagent	ThermoFisher	#S36940	Mounting reagent for SV
Multiwell 24 well plate	Corning	#353047	Plate used for immunostaining
NaCl	ThermoFisher	AAJ216183	Used for steps of sNuc-Seq
Nonidet P40	Sigma-Aldrich	9-16-45-9	Used for steps of sNuc-Seq
Nuclease free water	ThermoFisher	4387936	Used for steps of sNuc-Seq
Orbital shaker	Silent Shake	SYC-2102A	Used for steps of immunostaining
PBS	ThermoFisher	J61196.AP	Used for steps of immunostaining and dissection
RNA Later	Invitrogen	AM7021	Used for preservation of SV for sNuc-Seq
Scizzors	Fine Science Tools	14058-09	Used for splitting mouse skull
Tris-HCl	Sigma-Aldrich	15506017	Used for steps of sNuc-Seq
Trypan blue stain	Gibco	15250061	Used for cell counting
Tween20	ThermoFisher	AAJ20605AP	Used for steps of sNuc-Seq
Zeiss STEMI SV 11 Apo stereomicroscope	Zeiss	n/a	Microscope used for dissections