This study describes how to dissect the endolymphatic sac from the inner ear of the mouse at different ages. The result of a similar dissection is shown in an Slc26a4-null mouse model of enlargement of the endolymphatic sac. A transgenic mouse with a fluorescent reporter expressed in the endolymphatic sac is presented as a model to readily visualize the endolymphatic sac, and educational tool.
The study of mutant mouse models of human hearing and balance disorders has unraveled many structural and functional changes which may contribute to the human phenotypes. Although important progress has been done in the understanding of the development and function of the neurosensory epithelia of the cochlea and vestibula, limited knowledge is available regarding the development, cellular composition, molecular pathways and functional characteristics of the endolymphatic sac. This is, in large part, due to the difficulty of visualizing and microdissecting this tissue, which is an epithelium comprised of only one cell layer. The study presented here describes an approach to access and microdissect the endolymphatic sac from the wild-type mouse inner ear at different ages. The result of a similar dissection is shown in a pendrin-deficient mouse model of enlargement of the vestibular aqueduct. A transgenic mouse with a fluorescent endolymphatic sac is presented. This reporter mouse can be used to readily visualize the endolymphatic sac with limited dissection and determine its size. It can also be used as an educational tool to teach how to dissect the endolymphatic sac. These dissection procedures should facilitate further characterization of this understudied part of the inner ear.
The mammalian inner ear consists of the cochlea, the saccule, the utricle, three semi-circular canals, and the endolymphatic sac (Figure 1A). These organs comprise a continuous, fluid-filled epithelium called the membranous labyrinth, with adjacent organs connecting directly or through small canal structures such as the ductus reuniens, saccular duct, utricular duct, or endolymphatic duct. Compared to other organs of the inner ear, the endolymphatic sac has unique characteristics. First, it lacks sensory epithelial cells. Instead, the endolymphatic sac has cells specialized for ion transport. Second, although the membranous labyrinth is enclosed in the bony labyrinth, the endolymphatic sac is an exception, protruding partially out of the petrous bone and into the intracranial cavity. This morphology appears to be highly conserved during evolution of the inner ear. Third, the endolymphatic sac is the first structure to develop from the otocyst at an early embryonic stage prior to formation of other organs. In addition several pathologies have been associated with an enlarged endolymphatic sac or an abnormal endolymphatic compartment. The presence of pathogenic variants in SLC26A4 (also known as the pendrin gene) leads to a comparatively common form of sensorineural hearing loss, caused by the enlargement of the endolymphatic sac associated with the presence of an enlarged vestibular aqueduct (EVA)1. When associated with goiter, it is refered to as Pendred syndrome2,3. Meniere's disease is also thought by some to be associated with abnormality of the endolymphatic compartment (hydrops)4. The unique features of the endolymphatic sac and pathologies associated with a change of its morphology are consistent with a critical role for development and maintenance of the inner ear.
Despite its importance, knowledge is still limited regarding the development, cellular composition, molecular pathways and functional characteristics of the endolymphatic sac. This is at least partly due to the difficulty of visualizing and microdissecting this tissue. The endolymphatic sac is a pouch-shaped structure, composed of a single layer of epithelial cells, which is often translucent and very difficult to identify out of the conjunctive tissue which surrounds it by light stereomicroscopy. Although a small number of researchers have developed whole-mount dissection techniques and published their experimental findings5,6,7,8,9,10, there is no publication focusing on the technical details of this procedure.
In this study, the microdissection approaches developed to access and isolate the endolymphatic sac from the wild-type mouse inner ear at different ages, in whole-mount, is described. The results of a similar dissection is shown in a mouse model, lacking expression of SLC26A4, which has enlargement of the endolymphatic duct and sac. A mouse line with a transgene encoding a Cre recombinase expressed in the endolymphatic sac is reported. In presence of a fluorescent reporter of Cre expression, here tdTomato, the fluorescence can be used to readily visualize the endolymphatic sac with limited dissection and to obtain information about its size. This reporter mouse line can also be used as an educational tool to practice and perfect endolymphatic sac dissections. The ability to dissect endolymphatic sac tissue should facilitate further characterization of this understudied but essential component of the inner ear.
Many researchers have used paraffin-embedded or frozen sections for morphological studies of the endolymphatic sac. The disadvantage of sectioned preparations is that it can be difficult to fully observe the complicated cell-to-cell contacts because the size and shape of each epithelial cell in the endolymphatic sac is extremely variable, forming a wrinkled and pseudostratified cell layer. Whole-mount immunostaining and z-stack imaging, described in this protocol, permit better visualization of the three-dimensional structure of the endolymphatic sac.
For successful microdissection, the critical point is to mentally visualize the entire outline of the endolymphatic sac, even if it is invisible in the wild type mouse. Observation of the fluorescent reporter shown in Figure 3 and in Supplementary Figure 1-2, can be helpful for recognizing localization and size of the endolymphatic sac in mice.
While this whole-mount dissection method was used for immunostaining in the above protocol, this technique can also be used to harvest endolymphatic sac tissue for gene expression analysis, such as RT-qPCR, microarray expression, and even single-cell RNA-seq. The results of single-cell RNA-seq analysis using tissue prepared with this protocol have been previously reported16. For gene expression analysis of endolymphatic sac epithelial cells, it is preferable to collect isolated epithelium so that there is no contamination with other adjacent tissues. Although the embryonic endolymphatic sac can be separated from the adjacent connective tissues, it is much harder to do at later ages. For specimens from older mice, incubation with collagenase/dispase for 5 min at 37 °C is encouraged and facilitates the isolation of the endolymphatic sac epithelium.
One of the drawbacks of the whole-mount immunostaining described in this protocol is that the original three-dimensional structure may be affected by trauma during dissection or mounting of the preparation between glass slide and coverslip. Care is needed to avoid artefacts due to manipulation.
The authors have nothing to disclose.
This research was supported in part by the Intramural Research Program of the NIH, NIDCD (NIH Intramural Research Funds Z01-DC000060 and ZIC DC000081 to the Advanced Imaging Core). We are grateful to Drs. Raoul D. Nelson and R. Lance Miller (University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT) and Dr. Susan Wall (Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA) for sharing the Tg(ATP6V1B1-Cre) mice and to the NIDCD animal facility staff for caring for our animals. We express our gratitude to Dr. Philine Wangeman for the beautiful illustration of the inner ear. We thank Drs. Thomas B. Friedman and Robert J. Morell for critically reviewing this manuscript.
EDTA 0.5 M | Crystalgen | 221-057 | |
1 mL TUBERCULIN syringe with 27G x 13mm | BD | 309623 | |
9-well spot glass plate | Pyrex | 13-748B | |
Alexa Fluor 555-conjugated phalloidin | ThermoFisher Scientific | A34055 | |
Artery Scissors - Ball Tip | Fine Science Tools | 14080-11 | |
Bovine serum albumin | Sigma Aldrich | A3059 | |
Camera to capture images in incident light | Leica | DFC 495 | |
Camera to capture fluorescent images | Leica | DFC 7000 GT | |
Centrifuge tubes 15 mL | Corning | 430053 | |
Centrifuge tubes 50 mL | Corning | 430829 | |
Collagenase/Dispase | Roche | 10269638001 | |
Confocal microscope | Zeiss | LSM 880 | |
Cover Glass | Corning | 2940-223 | |
Dumont #4 Forceps | Fine Science Tools | 11241-30 | |
Dumont #5 Forceps | Fine Science Tools | 11251-20 | |
Dumont #55 Forceps | Fine Science Tools | 11255-20 | |
Extra Fine Bonn Scissors | Fine Science Tools | 14084-08 | |
Alternative: Extra Fine Micro Dissecting Scissors; Straight; Sharp Points; 20mm Blade Length; 3 1/2" Overall Length | Roboz | RS-5880 | |
Goat anti-rabbit Alexa Fluor 488-conjugated secondary antibody | ThermoFisher Scientific | A11034 | |
MicroSlides Superfrost | VWR | 48311-702 | |
Orbital shaker, for example Mini Shaker | Daigger | 980275 | |
Paraformaldehyde (PFA) 16% Aqueous Solution | Electron Microscopy Sciences | 15710 | |
Phosphate-Buffered Saline (10X) pH 7.4 | ThermoFisher Scientific | AM9624 | |
ProLong Gold Antifade Mountant with DAPI | ThermoFisher Scientific | P36931 | |
Rabbit anti-Pendrin antibodies | In-house | RRID:AB_2713943, PB826 (Choi et al., 2011) | |
Ring Forceps | Fine Science Tools | 11106-09 | |
Rocking shaker, for example GyroMini | Labnet | S0500 | |
Stereomicroscope equipped with a PlanApo 1.0x objective | Leica | ||
Stainless Steel Single Edge Blades, .009" | GEM Personna | 62-0176 | |
Tissue culture dish 60 mm | Falcon | 353002 | |
Transparent nail polish | |||
Triton X-100 | ACROS Organics | 32737-1000 |
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