In this video, we describe a surgical procedure to isolate ovaries from a neonatal mouse.
Protocol
All procedures involving animal models have been reviewed by the local institutional animal care committee and the JoVE veterinary review board.
1. Neonatal Ovary Dissection and Culture
Place 1 mL of dissection medium (dissolve 3 mg/mL BSA in Leibowitz L15 medium and filter sterilize through a 0.2 µm pore, 25 mm diameter filter) into each sterile glass embryo dish.
Cull neonatal mouse pups aged between postnatal day 0 and 5, culling by decapitation.
Grasp the skin covering the abdominal wall using a pair of fine dissection forceps and make a large incision in the skin and body wall. Pull open the incision so the entire abdomen is exposed. The bladder is usually engorged at this stage and can be punctured to make dissection easier.
Move the guts out of the way using watchmaker forceps. Follow the uterine horns from the bladder up to the kidney on each side. The ovary is located just below the kidney at the top of the uterus and will appear as a cloud-like structure under a dissecting microscope.
Grasp the ovary gently with watchmaker forceps and use scissors to sever its attachment to the uterus. Transfer the pair of ovaries into embryo dishes containing pre-warmed dissection medium.
Carry out fine dissection of ovaries under a dissection microscope on a heated stage (37 °C). Use insulin needles to trim away the bursal sac and any excess material including the fallopian tube, until only the ovary remains.
Transfer each ovary into the well of a culture plate using a finely drawn curved glass pipette.
Açıklamalar
The authors have nothing to disclose.
Materials
Leibowitz L15
Invitrogen
11415049
αMEM
Invitrogen
22571020
Supplied as sodium bicarbonate buffered (2,200 mg/L)
Bovine serum albumin
Sigma Aldrich
A9418
For dissection medium
Bovine serum albumin
Sigma Aldrich
A3311
For culture medium
Bovine serum albumin
Sigma Aldrich
A2153
For coating glass pipettes
FSH
Merck Serono
Gonal F
Batch testing is often necessary. Make up stock solution of 1IU/10µL in αMEM and store at -20 °C
Syringe filters (25 mm, 0.2 µm)
Greiner
16532K
Cellulose acetate filter for filtering larger (>5 mL) volumes of medium.
Sterile tubes
Greiner
187261
24-well plate
Greiner
662160
Insulin needles
BD medical supplies
037-7606
0.33 mm (29 G) + 1 mL
Glass embryo dishes
VWR
720-0579
Sterilize, then warm before use
Glass pipettes
Fisher Scientific
10209381
BSA coated before use
Acupuncture needles
Acumedic LTD
30 mm x 0.25 Type C
Formalin solution, neutral buffered, 10%
Sigma Aldrich
HT5014-120mL
Whatman nucleopore membranes
Camlab
WN/110414
Use shiny surface up, polycarbonate, 13 mm diameter, 8.0 µm pore size
Neonatal Mouse Ovary Isolation: A Surgical Procedure to Harvest Pair of Ovaries from Neonatal Mouse Model. J. Vis. Exp. (Pending Publication), e20756, doi: (2023).