Summary

Imagiologia Fibras Serotoninérgicos na medula espinhal mouse usando o CLARIDADE / Técnica CUBIC

Published: February 26, 2016
doi:

Summary

Supraspinal projections are important for pain perception and other behaviors, and serotonergic fibers are one of these fiber systems. The present study focused on the application of the combined CLARITY/CUBIC protocol to the mouse spinal cord in order to investigate the termination of these serotonergic fibers.

Abstract

fibras descendentes longos para a medula espinhal são essenciais para a locomoção, a percepção da dor, e outros comportamentos. O padrão de terminação da fibra na medula espinal da maioria destes sistemas de fibra não foram cuidadosamente investigados em qualquer espécie. fibras serotoninérgicos, que se projectam para a espinal-medula, foram estudados em ratos e em secções histológicas marsupiais e o seu significado funcional foi deduzida com base no seu padrão de terminação da fibra na medula espinal. Com o desenvolvimento de clareza e técnicas cúbicos, é possível investigar este sistema de fibra e a sua distribuição na medula espinal, a qual é susceptível de revelar características anteriormente desconhecidos de vias supraespinhais serotoninérgicos. Aqui, nós fornecemos um protocolo detalhado para geração de imagens das fibras serotoninérgicos na medula espinhal de rato usando o CLAREZA combinados e técnicas cúbicos. O método envolve a perfusão de um rato com uma solução de hidrogel e clarificação do tecido com uma combinção de limpar reagentes. tecido da medula espinhal foi liberado em pouco menos de duas semanas, e a coloração de imunofluorescência subsequente contra a serotonina foi concluída em menos de dez dias. Com um microscópio de fluorescência multi-fotão, o tecido foi digitalizado e uma imagem 3D foi reconstruído usando software Osirix.

Introduction

Supraspinal projections are responsible for the modulation of diverse behaviors such as pain perception. One of the projections carrying nociceptive information contains serotoninergic fibers, which originate from the hindbrain raphe and adjacent reticular nuclei1,2. Physiological and pharmacological studies have demonstrated an increased release of serotonin in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord after electrical stimulation of the raphe nuclei in the hindbrain3-5. In the rat and opossum, serotonergic raphespinal fibers have dense terminals, not only in the dorsal horn6-8, but also in the intermediate zone7,9,10, the ventral horn7,11, and even lamina 1012,13. There are no similar studies in the mouse. The present study aimed to map the termination pattern of serotonergic fibers arising from the hindbrain raphe nuclei and their adjacent reticular nuclei in the mouse spinal cord using the recently published CLARITY14 method and its modification – CUBIC15.

Conventional fluorescence or peroxidase immunohistochemistry of the spinal cord clearly shows the distribution of serotonergic fibers in the gray matter of the spinal cord in 30-40 µm thick cross-sections. However, this approach does not show the continuity of the serotonergic fiber tracts in the white matter and their collaterals in the gray matter. Although the 3D reconstruction of histological sections has advanced our knowledge of fiber tracts, it remains a challenge for histologists and anatomists to follow a single tract due to small distortions in the tissue caused by cutting. To circumvent this obstacle a number of researchers have developed various protocols for making the whole tissue structure transparent, and collecting an image of unaltered tissue in a single video file17-21. So far, the clear, lipid-exchanged, acrylamide-hybridized rigid, imaging/ immunostaining compatible, tissue hydrogel (CLARITY) technique, developed by Deisseroth’s group14,15, as well as CUBIC, developed by Susaki et al16 are the most successful. Since the publication of the protocols, many researchers have started using these techniques to investigate various aspects of biological tissues, including, not only the brain22-25, but also the heart, kidneys, intestine, and the lungs26,27.

By fixing the mouse spinal cord with the hydrogel solution (CLARITY) and clearing with the CUBIC reagents (which is a much faster method than that described by the original CLARITY protocol14,15), a spinal cord tissue block of 2-3 mm long was cleared within two weeks and immunofluorescence staining for serotonin completed in eight days. With just a combination of chemical agents, conventional immunohistochemistry can be used to create an image of individual fiber tracts in a 3D video file in approximately one month.

Protocol

Declaração de Ética: Todos os procedimentos envolvendo indivíduos animais siga as orientações do Comitê de Cuidados com Animais e Ética (ACEC) da Universidade de New South Wales (o número ACEC aprovado é de 14 / 94A). 1. Preparação da Transparente cabo do rato Spinal Preparação de Ice Cold Hidrogel Solution Preparação de solução de paraformaldeído a 16% (PFA) Adicionar 16 g de paraformaldeído em pó em 70 ml de pré-aquecida de água destilada…

Representative Results

Esta secção mostra os resultados de coloração de anticorpos de serotonina na medula espinal do rato transparente usando uma combinação de a clareza e protocolos cúbico. Mostramos que as fibras serotoninérgicas estão presentes em todas as lâminas da medula espinhal com predominância na porção ventral do corno ventral (Figura 1, também vemos Video 1). O tecido de controlo não têm fibras positivas (resultado não foi apresentado). No corno v…

Discussion

O protocolo descrito mostra como fibras imagem serotoninérgicos na medula espinhal de rato com a clareza combinadas e técnicas cúbico. Ele apresenta um processo de limpeza mais rápido em comparação com o protocolo de compensação passiva desenvolvido por Cheung et al. 14 e Tomer et ai. 15 e permite que o tecido da medula espinal a ser bem suportado pelo hidrogel durante a limpeza.

Um passo importante durante a fixação da medula espinhal de rat…

Divulgaciones

The authors have nothing to disclose.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function (ARC Centre Grant CE140100007), an NHMRC project grant (#1086643). Prof. George Paxinos is supported by a Senior Principal Research Fellow NHMRC grant (#1043626).

Materials

Photoinitiator VA044 Wako va-044/225-02111 http://www.wako-chem.co.jp/specialty/waterazo/VA-044.htm
40% acrylamide solution Bio Rad 161-0140 http://www.bio-rad.com/en-au/sku/161-0140-40-acrylamide-solution
2% Bis Solution Bio Rad 161-0142 http://www.bio-rad.com/en-au/sku/161-0142-2-bis-solution?parentCategoryGUID=5e7a4f31-879c-4d63-ba0b-82556a0ccf1d
paraformaldehyde Sigma 158127 http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/product/sial/158127?lang=en&region=AU
urea Merck Millipore 66612 http://www.merckmillipore.com/AU/en/product/Urea—CAS-57-13-6—Calbiochem,EMD_BIO-66612
N,N,N’,N’-tetrakis (2-hydroxypropyl) ethylenediamine Merck Millipore 821940 http://www.merckmillipore.com/AU/en/product/Ethylenediamine-N,N,N',N'-tetra-2-propanol,MDA_CHEM-821940
Triton-X 100 Merck Millipore 648462 http://www.merckmillipore.com/AU/en/product/TRITON®-X-100-Detergent—CAS-9002-93-1—Calbiochem,EMD_BIO-648462
sucrose Sigma S0389 http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/product/sigma/s0389?lang=en&region=AU
2,2’,2’’- nitrilotriethanol Merck Millipore 137002 http://www.merckmillipore.com/AU/en/product/Triethanolamine-(Trolamine),MDA_CHEM-137022
serotonin antibody Merck Millipore AB938 http://www.merckmillipore.com/AU/en/product/Anti-Serotonin-Antibody,MM_NF-AB938
goat anti rabbit IgG (H+L) Secondary Antibody, Alexa Fluor® 594 conjugate Life Technologies  A-11012 https://www.lifetechnologies.com/order/genome-database/antibody/Rabbit-IgG-H-L-Secondary-Antibody-Polyclonal/A-11012
multi-photon microscope Leica Leica TCS SP5 MP STED http://www.leica-microsystems.com/products/confocal-microscopes/details/product/leica-tcs-sp5-mp/

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Citar este artículo
Liang, H., Schofield, E., Paxinos, G. Imaging Serotonergic Fibers in the Mouse Spinal Cord Using the CLARITY/CUBIC Technique. J. Vis. Exp. (108), e53673, doi:10.3791/53673 (2016).

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