We present a method for a fungal pathogenesis model that preserves the natural positioning of fungal spores in the lung airways for analysis via fluorescent microscopy.
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Method Article
We present a method for a fungal pathogenesis model that preserves the natural positioning of fungal spores in the lung airways for analysis via fluorescent microscopy.
Fungi infect humans when environmental spores are inhaled into the lungs. The lung is a heterogeneous organ. Conducting airways, including bronchi and bronchioles, branch until terminating in the alveolar airspace where gas exchange occurs. Infections originating in the bronchioles or alveoli elicit distinct host responses and disease manifestations. Therefore, understanding precisely where spores naturally localize in the lungs, particularly soon after infection, expands opportunities for investigation of host-pathogen interactions. Herein, we detail an in-situ analysis of lungs from mice infected with Coccidioides posadasii cts2/ard1/cts3Δ arthroconidia. Conventional methods for histological preservation involve liquid inflation of the airways with a fixative solution, which displaces the natural location of aspirated fungal particles, pushing spores from proximal bronchioles to terminal airspaces.
Conversely, this method of air-inflation with blood vasculature perfusion-fixation preserves the physiologic position of fungal spores within the bronchioles. Moreover, we describe a simple approach to cryopreserving, embedding, and imaging lung specimens. We also share high-throughput computational techniques via the open-source QuPath program to analyze the spatial distribution of fungal spores within the lung. The method presented here is simple and quick, requires minimal equipment to perform, and can be easily adapted for use with many respiratory fungal infection models.
Humans can inhale up to billions of spores per day from a variety of environmental fungi1. To understand our barrier defenses against these inhaled spores, we must appreciate the precise microanatomical environments where these spores land within the airways and lung parenchyma. The cellular composition of the airways (i.e., epithelial cells) significantly transforms along the trachea, bronchi, bronchioles, and alveoli. Each of these distinct regions is composed of different cell types with discrete functions which avails an arsenal of defenses to prevent pathologic infection.
The precise location of pulmonary fungal spore deposition can vary between the airway lumens of columnar epithelial-lined bronchioles, alveolar ducts, or alveoli2. Most clinically relevant fungal species produce spores between 1 µm and 10 µm in diameter3. The deposition of these spore particles in the lung depends on several factors, such as aerodynamics, density, electrical charge, and phoretic forces, which can influence the mechanism of sedimentation after inhalation4. Generally, large particles (> 6 µm) deposit in the upper airway, medium-sized particles (2-6 µm) can deposit in smaller airways, and small particles (<2 µm) reach the alveolar region5. Aspergillus spores (2-3 µm) have been reported to reach alveolar spaces, but clinical pathology reports also indicate a significant burden of bronchial and bronchiolar disease6. There is also increasing recognition of endobronchial fungal infections of Aspergillus fumigatus, Coccidioides immitis, Candida species, Cryptococcus neoformans, Histoplasma capsulatum, and Zygomycetes due to the increasing popularity of flexible bronchoscopy7. Recent advances in microscopic imaging of Aspergillus infections in mice have also revealed that more proximal airspaces such as bronchi and bronchioles may bear the highest burden for pathologic fungal proliferation8. Research on the host response to pulmonary fungal infections has shown that both bronchiolar epithelial cells and alveolar epithelial cells play important roles as immune sentinels, so elucidating the exact sites of spore deposition and epithelial interaction will be vital for future work2,9,10.
Studying these proximal airway pathogenesis dynamics is difficult because standard lung fixation and sectioning preparation techniques can displace spores from these proximal positions in epithelial-lined airways and push them toward distal terminal alveolar regions. Commonly, 10% formalin or 4% paraformaldehyde is used to inflate the lungs and rapidly expose the entire lung to fixative. When preparing lungs for cryosectioning, some groups administer optimal cutting temperature (OCT) compound into the lungs to improve cryosectioning performance11. These practices are useful in the right context but have been found by our lab and other groups to displace spores and particles from proximal locations, thereby interfering with interpretations about the spore-exposed cell types and the subsequent host response12.
To accurately establish the microanatomical localization of inhaled fungal spores, we have developed a quick, low-resource method for the preservation of the location of fungal spores in the airways of mice. We adapted a murine air-inflation vascular perfusion-fixation method from Thomas et al. (2021), where we reduced the amount of equipment, time, and technical skill required to achieve a satisfactory result13. From the method described here, we have observed that Coccidioides posadasii cts2/ard1/cts3Δ arthroconidia (3-5 µm in size) accumulate more proximally than previously shown, namely in distal bronchioles and broncho-alveolar junctions rather than terminal alveoli. This information can focus biological questions concerning the critical cell types associated with these regions of the lung and their influence on the early responses to inhaled fungal spores.
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All methods described in this protocol have been approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) of Rutgers Biomedical Health Sciences.
1. Label spores with intracellular fluorescence
2. Inoculating mouse with spores through aspiration inhalation using isoflurane anesthesia
CAUTION: Isoflurane is a volatile anesthetic agent and must be used within a ducted biosafety cabinet or fume hood.

Figure 1: Apparatus for isoflurane open drop method of spore inoculation. A folded napkin is placed in the bottom of a 1 L screw top jar, and then a circular plastic mesh is inserted to act as a platform for the mice. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
3. Euthanasia of mice
4. Perfusion of lungs with PBS and formalin
5. Air-inflating the perfused lung
6. Immersion fixation and dehydration
7. Cryosectioning
8. Slide preparation and blocking
9. Immunostaining
10. Imaging via fluorescent microscopy
11. Spatial analysis via QuPath
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This method ultimately produces immunofluorescent images of mouse lungs using physiologic air inflation to leave the airways undisturbed. Importantly, multiple checkpoints along the way will confirm that components of the protocol have been performed successfully. During the inoculation, it is important to confirm that the inoculum was aspirated by feeling for "crackles" on the posterior chest wall of the mouse that indicate the liquid has entered the airways. If there is no sensation of crackles, it is possible that the...
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We have established a pipeline for spore inhalation and analysis of the spatial deposition of the inhaled spores. This pipeline provides valuable information to determine the relevant stromal regions of the lung affected by inhalation of Coccidioides posadasii cts2/ard1/cts3Δ arthroconidia. We have observed that Coccidioides spores and similarly sized inert particles (data not shown) accumulate in distal bronchiolar regions and broncho-alveolar junctions rather than fully dispersed throughout alve...
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The authors have nothing to disclose.
Funding and support were acquired through NIH grant K22 AI153678-01 and Rutgers School of Graduate Studies. We thank Fawad Yousufzai and Luke Fritzky from the Rutgers Biomedical Health Sciences Cellular Imaging and Histology Core for their work and expertise in obtaining immunofluorescent images.
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| Name | Company | Catalog Number | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 G, 1 1/2 needle (305185) | Fisher | 305185 | |
| 1 L Screwtop Jar (Nalgene) | Fisher Scientific | 11-823-33 | |
| Air-Tite Bulk Unsterile Syringes 10 mL Luer Lock | Fisher | 14-817-175 | |
| AnaSed Injection (xylazine sterile solution) | Akorn | 59399-110-20 | |
| Animal-Free Blocker and Diluent, R.T.U. | Vector | SP-5035-100 | |
| BD Insyte Autoguard Winged Shielded IV Catheter with BD Vialon Catheter Material 18 G x 1.88 in | BD | 381547 | |
| BD Pharmingen Purified Rat Anti-Mouse CD16/CD32 (Mouse BD Fc Block™) | BD | 553142 | |
| CellTracker Orange CMRA Dye | Fisher Scientific | NC0873640 | |
| CFSE | Labviva | 75003 | |
| Coccidioides posadasii cts2/ard1/cts3Δ | BEI Resources | NR-166 | |
| Corning 70 micron strainers | VWR | 10054-456 | |
| EpCAM AlexaFluor647 monoclonal antibody | Biolegend | 118211 | |
| Exel International HYpodermic Needles 30 G x 1/2" | Labviva | EN3012 | |
| Fisherbrand Sterile Syringes for Single Use (1mL, Leur Slip) | Fisher | 14-955-462 | |
| Glucose Monohydrate | Azer Scientific | ES17530-500G | |
| High Vacuum Grease | VWR | 59344-055 | |
| Hoechst 33342 Solution 20 mM (5 mL) | ThermoFischer | 62249 | |
| Isoflurane USP | Covetrus | 29405 | |
| Ketamine Hydrochloride | Dechra | 1000001250 | |
| KIMWIPES Delicate Task Wipers (4.4'' x 8.4") | VWR | 21905-026 | |
| Lexer Baby Scissors | FST | 14078-10 | |
| Micro-Adson Forceps | FST | 11018-12 | |
| Neutral Buffered Formalin (10%) (Azer Scientific) | Fisher | 22-026-350 | |
| Nunc EasYFlask tissue culture flasks, T75, filter caps | VWR | 15708-134 | |
| PBS | VWR | 45000-446 | |
| Peel-A-Way embedding molds | Sigma | E6032-1CS | |
| QuPath 0.5.1 Software | Open-source | https://qupath.github.io/ | |
| Silk Suture thread size 3/0 | FST | 18020-30 | |
| SlidesMicro Slides Superfrost Plus | VWR | 48311-703 | |
| SlowFade Glass Soft-set Antifade Mountant (2 mL) | ThermoFischer | S36917 | |
| Sucrose | Sigma | S0389-500G | |
| Tissue-Tek O.C.T. Compound, Sakura Finetek | VWR | 25608-930 | |
| Tween 20 | ThermoFischer | J20605.AP | |
| Vector Laboratories ImmEDGE Hydrophobic Barrier Pen Set Of 2 | Fisher Scientific | NC9545623 | |
| VWR Micro Cover Glasses, Rectangular (24 mm x 40 mm #1.5) | VWR | 48393-230 | |
| White Plastic Wire Mesh | MAPORCH | 789862904922 | |
| Yeast Extract | Fisher | BP9727-500 | |
| Zeiss AxioScan 7 | Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH | https://www.zeiss.com/microscopy/us/products/imaging-systems/axioscan-for-biology.html | multichannel fluorescent microscope |
| ZEN 3.7 Software | Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH | https://www.zeiss.com/microscopy/us/products/software/zeiss-zen.html | microscopy software |
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