Source: Rizzuto, G. A., et al. Human Placental and Decidual Organ Cultures to Study Infections at the Maternal-fetal Interface. J. Vis. Exp. (2016)
This video demonstrates a method to establish an infection model in placental tissues to study infection propagation. An ex vivo placental organ culture is infected with Listeria monocytogenes, a facultative intracellular parasite. The bacteria invade extravillous trophoblasts (EVTs) to enter the placental tissue and then propagate to other cells via cell-to-cell spread.
The authors have nothing to disclose.
Sterilization pouches | Fisher Scientific | 01-812-54 | For autoclaving individual dissecting tools |
Fine mesh strainer | Cuisinart (Amazon.com) | NA | Wrap completely in aluminum foil and autoclave prior to tissue collection. |
Carboy with spigot | Fisher Scientific | 03-007-647 | For large volume preparation of Wash buffer. |
Ice packs | Nortech labs | GB8818 | These do not have to be purchased, rather they can be recycled/reused from any routine laboratory shipment that includes them in the packaging. |
70% Ethanol | VWR | V1001 | 70% solution made by adding dH20 to 190 or 200 proof research grade alcohol. |
10% Bleach | Waxie Sanitary Supply | CLO 30966 | 10% solution made by adding dH20. |
Light Box | Litebox Lumina (dickblick.com) | 55305-2009 | Note replacement bulbs also purchased on Blick (55305.0100) |
Micro dissecting forceps | Stoelting | 52102-43 | 4in, 1×2 0.5mm, Slight Curve |
Micro dissecting forceps | Stoelting | 52102-06 | 4in, Straight Fine, Sharp |
Micro dissecting vannas spring scissors | Stoelting | 52130-01P | McPherson-Vannas Spring Scissors, 8.5cm, 0.33 Tip, Slight Curve |
Dissecting microscope | Leica Microsystems | MZ16 or M60 | We have had success with the listed models. External gooseneck flexible light sources are helpful but not necessary. |
50 mL conical tubes | Sigma-Aldrich (Corning) | CLS4558 | |
Phosphate Buffered Saline | Gibco (ThermoFisher Scientific) | 10010023 | We purchase from our university Tissue Culture Core facility, alternate options such as this are available. |
10X Phosphate Buffered Saline | Teknova | P0195 | For preparation of Wash buffer we use 10X PBS |
DMEM/F-12 nutrient mixture (Ham's) with GlutaMAX | Gibco (Life Technologies) | 10565-018 | We purchase this specific media formulation, containing 2.438 g/L sodium bicarbonate, 55 mg/L sodium pyruvate, and 4.5 g/L glucose |
Gentamicin | Thermofisher Scientific | 15710072 | 1000X stock. Recommend to prepare and store aliquots at -20 °C to avoid freeze/thaw. |
Penicillin/Streptomycin | Gibco (ThermoFisher Scientific) | 15140-122 | 100X stock. Recommend to prepare and store aliquots at -20 °C to avoid freeze/thaw. |
Amphotericin B | Gibco (ThermoFisher Scientific) | 15290-018 | 500X stock. Recommend to prepare and store aliquots at -20 °C to avoid freeze/thaw. |
progesterone | Sigma-Aldrich | P8783 | A 1 mM stock solution is made by reconstituting 15.7 mg progesterone powder in 15.7 mL Ethanol and adding 34.3 mL PBS. Solution is sterile filtered, aliquoted, and stored at -20 °C. |
17β-estradiol | Sigma-Aldrich | E2758 | A 10 μM stock solution is made by reconstituting 13.5 mg estradiol powder in 10 mL ethanol and adding 40 mL PBS. Solution is sterile filtered, aliquoted, and stored at -20 °C. |
Bottle-top vaccum filter (0.22 μm) | Sigma-Aldrich (Corning) | CLS430769 | For sterile filtration of Collection media after preparation |
6-well tissue culture plate | BD Falcon | 353224 | Polystyrene, Tissue culture treated |
6-well transwells | Millipore | PICM03050 | Insert – 30mm diameter, 0.4μm pore size hydrophilic PTFE membrane |
Extracellular Matrix (for example, Matrigel Matrix) | BD Biosciences | 354234 | We have utilized Matrigel Matrix in our studies. It is a solid at room temperature and at -20 °C. Avoid repeat freeze/thawing. Thaw bottle to viscous solution at 4 °C, and prepare ~300μL aliquotsin the cold room with chilled pipette tips. Store aliquots at -20 °C. |
Paraformaldehyde, 16% w/v aqueous solution | Alfa Aesar | 30525-89-4 | For tissue fixation, a fresh preparation of 4% paraformaldehyde is made by diluting this stock in PBS. |
Tissue culture incubator, maintained at 37 °C, 5% CO2, 3% oxygen (optional for villous organ cultures) | For some experiments, hypoxia may be preferred. This can be established multiple ways, including addition of exogenous nitrogen via gas cylinder, Tygon tubing, and a regulator. | ||
Bench top centrifuge |