Three-Dimensional Imaging of the Intracellular Fate of Plasmid DNA and Transgene Expression: ZsGreen1 and Tissue Clearing Method CUBIC Are an Optimal Combination for Multicolor Deep Imaging in Murine Tissues

PLoS One. 2016 Jan 29;11(1):e0148233. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0148233. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

Evaluation methods for determining the distribution of transgene expression in the body and the in vivo fate of viral and non-viral vectors are necessary for successful development of in vivo gene delivery systems. Here, we evaluated the spatial distribution of transgene expression using tissue clearing methods. After hydrodynamic injection of plasmid DNA into mice, whole tissues were subjected to tissue clearing. Tissue clearing followed by confocal laser scanning microscopy enabled evaluation of the three-dimensional distribution of transgene expression without preparation of tissue sections. Among the tested clearing methods (ClearT2, SeeDB, and CUBIC), CUBIC was the most suitable method for determining the spatial distribution of transgene expression in not only the liver but also other tissues such as the kidney and lung. In terms of the type of fluorescent protein, the observable depth for green fluorescent protein ZsGreen1 was slightly greater than that for red fluorescent protein tdTomato. We observed a depth of ~1.5 mm for the liver and 500 μm for other tissues without preparation of tissue sections. Furthermore, we succeeded in multicolor deep imaging of the intracellular fate of plasmid DNA in the murine liver. Thus, tissue clearing would be a powerful approach for determining the spatial distribution of plasmid DNA and transgene expression in various murine tissues.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Formaldehyde / chemistry
  • Formamides / chemistry
  • Gene Expression
  • Genes, Reporter
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins / genetics*
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins / metabolism
  • Imaging, Three-Dimensional / methods*
  • Kidney / metabolism
  • Kidney / ultrastructure
  • Liver / metabolism*
  • Liver / ultrastructure
  • Luminescent Proteins / genetics
  • Luminescent Proteins / metabolism
  • Lung / metabolism
  • Lung / ultrastructure
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Molecular Imaging / methods*
  • Octoxynol / chemistry
  • Organ Specificity
  • Plasmids / chemistry
  • Plasmids / metabolism
  • Plasmids / pharmacokinetics*
  • Polyethylene Glycols / chemistry
  • Red Fluorescent Protein
  • Tissue Fixation
  • Transfection
  • Transgenes*
  • Urea / chemistry

Substances

  • Formamides
  • Luminescent Proteins
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins
  • Formaldehyde
  • Polyethylene Glycols
  • formamide
  • Urea
  • Octoxynol

Grants and funding

This work was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Grant Number 25350553), and by the Joint Research Promotion Project of Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in 2013. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.