Title | Use of stable isotope-tagged thymidine and multi-isotope imaging mass spectrometry (MIMS) for quantification of human cardiomyocyte division. |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2021 |
Authors | Yester JW, Liu H, Gyngard F, Ammanamanchi N, Little KC, Thomas D, Sullivan MLG, Lal S, Steinhauser ML, Kühn B |
Journal | Nat Protoc |
Volume | 16 |
Issue | 4 |
Pagination | 1995-2022 |
Date Published | 2021 Apr |
ISSN | 1750-2799 |
Keywords | Cell Division, Cell Nucleus, Cell Proliferation, Female, Fetus, Humans, Imaging, Three-Dimensional, Infant, Isotope Labeling, Leukocytes, Mass Spectrometry, Myocardium, Myocytes, Cardiac, Nitrogen Isotopes, Ploidies, Pregnancy, Sarcomeres, Tetralogy of Fallot, Thymidine |
Abstract | Quantification of cellular proliferation in humans is important for understanding biology and responses to injury and disease. However, existing methods require administration of tracers that cannot be ethically administered in humans. We present a protocol for the direct quantification of cellular proliferation in human hearts. The protocol involves administration of non-radioactive, non-toxic stable isotope 15Nitrogen-enriched thymidine (15N-thymidine), which is incorporated into DNA during S-phase, in infants with tetralogy of Fallot, a common form of congenital heart disease. Infants with tetralogy of Fallot undergo surgical repair, which requires the removal of pieces of myocardium that would otherwise be discarded. This protocol allows for the quantification of cardiomyocyte proliferation in this discarded tissue. We quantitatively analyzed the incorporation of 15N-thymidine with multi-isotope imaging spectrometry (MIMS) at a sub-nuclear resolution, which we combined with correlative confocal microscopy to quantify formation of binucleated cardiomyocytes and cardiomyocytes with polyploid nuclei. The entire protocol spans 3-8 months, which is dependent on the timing of surgical repair, and 3-4.5 researcher days. This protocol could be adapted to study cellular proliferation in a variety of human tissues. |
DOI | 10.1038/s41596-020-00477-y |
Alternate Journal | Nat Protoc |
PubMed ID | 33627842 |
PubMed Central ID | PMC8221415 |
Grant List | DP2 CA216362 / CA / NCI NIH HHS / United States UL1 TR001857 / TR / NCATS NIH HHS / United States R01 HL151415 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States R01 HL106302 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States S10 RR025488 / RR / NCRR NIH HHS / United States KL2 TR001856 / TR / NCATS NIH HHS / United States T32 HD071834 / HD / NICHD NIH HHS / United States TL1 TR001858 / TR / NCATS NIH HHS / United States R01 HL151386 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States |