This protocol demonstrates a method for obtaining high yield and viability for mouse hepatocytes and sinusoidal endothelial cells (SECs) suitable for culturing or for obtaining cell lysates. In this protocol, the portal vein is used as the site for catheterization, rather than the vena cava, as this limits contamination of other possible cell types in the final liver preparation. No special instrumentation is required throughout the procedure. A water bath is used as a source of heat to maintain the temperature of all the buffers and solutions. A standard peristaltic pump is used to drive the fluid, and a refrigerated table-top centrifuge is required for the centrifugation procedures. The only limitation of this technique is the placement of the catheter within the portal vein, which is challenging on some of the mice in the 18 - 25 g size range. An advantage of this technique is that only one vein is utilized for the perfusion and the access to the vein is quick, which minimizes ischemia and reperfusion of the liver that reduces hepatic cell viability. Another advantage to this protocol is that it is easy to distinguish live from dead hepatocytes by eyesight due to the difference in cellular density during the centrifugation steps. Cells from this protocol may be used in cell culture for any downstream application as well as processed for any biochemical assessment.

Exacerbations of muco-obstructive airway diseases such as COPD and asthma are associated with epithelial changes termed mucous metaplasia (MM). Many molecular pathways triggering MM have been identified; however, the factors that regulate resolution are less well understood. We hypothesized that the autophagy pathway is required for resolution of MM by eliminating excess non-secreted intracellular mucin granules. We found increased intracellular levels of mucins Muc5ac and Muc5b in mice deficient in autophagy regulatory protein, Atg16L1, and that this difference was not due to defects in the known baseline or stimulated mucin secretion pathways. Instead, we found that, in mucous secretory cells, Lc3/Lamp1 vesicles colocalized with mucin granules particularly adjacent to the nucleus, suggesting that some granules were being eliminated in the autophagy pathway rather than secreted. Using a mouse model of MM resolution, we found increased lysosomal proteolytic activity that peaked in the days after mucin production began to decline. In purified lysosomal fractions, Atg16L1-deficient mice had reduced proteolytic degradation of Lc3 and Sqstm1 and persistent accumulation of mucin granules associated with impaired resolution of mucous metaplasia. In normal and COPD derived human airway epithelial cells (AECs), activation of autophagy by mTOR inhibition led to a reduction of intracellular mucin granules in AECs. Our findings indicate that during peak and resolution phases of MM, autophagy activity rather than secretion is required for elimination of some remaining mucin granules. Manipulation of autophagy activation offers a therapeutic target to speed resolution of MM in airway disease exacerbations.

Human and mouse Stabilin-2 receptors had very similar endocytosis rates of both the 12mer and n12mer, suggesting that they are functionally similar in primary cells. Subcutaneous injections of the n12mer and 12mer revealed that the 12mer had a much longer half-life in circulation and a higher accumulation in liver. The n12mer never accumulated in circulation and was readily excreted by the kidneys before liver accumulation could occur. Liver sinusoidal endothelial cells from the Stabilin-2 KO mice had lower uptake rates for both dodecamers, whereas, the Stabilin-1 KO mice had lower endocytosis rates for the 12mer than the n12mer. 3-O sulfation of heparin is correlated to both a longer circulatory half-life and hepatotropism which is largely performed by the Stabilin receptors.

Antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) have demonstrated variation of efficacy in patient populations. This has prompted our investigation into the contribution of genetic architecture to ASO pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD). Genome wide association (GWA) and transcriptomic analysis in a hybrid mouse diversity panel (HMDP) were used to identify and validate novel genes involved in the uptake and efficacy of a single dose of a Malat1 constrained ethyl (cEt) modified ASO. The GWA of the HMDP identified two significant associations on chromosomes 4 and 10 with hepatic Malat1 ASO concentrations. Stabilin 2 (Stab2) and vesicle associated membrane protein 3 (Vamp3) were identified by cis-eQTL analysis. HMDP strains with lower Stab2 expression and Stab2 KO mice displayed significantly lower PK than strains with higher Stab2 expression and the wild type (WT) animals respectively, confirming the role of Stab2 in regulating hepatic Malat1 ASO uptake. GWA examining ASO efficacy uncovered three loci associated with Malat1 potency: Small Subunit Processome Component (Utp11l) on chromosome 4, Rho associated coiled-coil containing protein kinase 2 (Rock2) and Aci-reductone dioxygenase (Adi1) on chromosome 12. Our results demonstrate the utility of mouse GWAS using the HMDP in detecting genes capable of impacting the uptake of ASOs, and identifies genes critical for the activity of ASOs in vivo.

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Exacerbations of muco-obstructive airway diseases such as COPD and asthma are associated with epithelial changes termed mucous cell metaplasia (MCM). The molecular pathways triggering MCM have been identified; however, the factors that regulate resolution are less well understood. We hypothesized that the autophagosome-lysosome pathway is required for resolution of MCM by degrading cytoplasmic mucins. We found increased intracellular levels of Muc5ac and Muc5b in autophagy-deficient mice. This difference was not due to defective mucin secretion. Instead, we found that Lamp1-labeled lysosomes surrounded mucin granules of mucous cells indicating that granules were being degraded. Using a model of resolution of mucous cell metaplasia in mice, we found increased lysosomal proteolytic activity that peaked in the days after inflammation. Autophagy-deficient mice had persistent accumulation of mucin granules that failed to decline due to reduced mucin degradation. We applied these findings in vitro to human airway epithelial cells (AECs). Activation of autophagy by mTOR inhibition led to degradation of mucin granules in AECs. Our findings indicate that during peak and resolution phases of MCM, mucin granules can be degraded by autophagy. The addition of mucin degradation to the existing paradigm of production and secretion may more fully explain how the secretory cells handle excess amounts of cytoplasmic mucin and offers a therapeutic target to speed resolution of MCM in airway disease exacerbations. Introduction:Mammalian cells utilize two primary degradation systems to recycle proteins: the proteasome and the autophagosome-lysosome pathways. While there is some overlap, these pathways are largely independently regulated and serve different functions(1). These protein degradation systems are necessary for the cell to balance metabolic demands by recycling proteins to amino acids for new synthesis. The autophagosome-lysosome pathway is highly conserved across species(2, 3). It can be utilized in bulk protein breakdown (macro-autophagy or referred to as autophagy) in response to nutrient demands for new amino acids. Cells can also utilize chaperone-mediated autophagy that utilizes a specific amino acid motif targeted by cytoplasmic chaperones that bypass the autophagosome and directly insert proteins in the lysosome for degradation. Finally, cells can utilize selective autophagy by targeting proteins, protein aggregates, and organelles including mitochondria(4, 5) and even cilia components(6) to the autophagosome for degradation in the lysosome. We (7,8), and others(9-13), have observed that autophagy markers are increased in models of human airway disease, and in asthma and COPD airways. This led us to infer that autophagy played a key role in the response to airway inflammation in the epithelium.Mucociliary clearance is a vital feature of innate immunity (14,15). There are two primary secretory mucins in the murine and human airways, MUC5B and MUC5AC, that provide the biophysical properties of mucous gel layer (16,17)...

The liver is primarily composed of hepatocytes and the nonparenchymal cells which include stellate cells, Kupffer cells, sinusoidal endothelial cells and various other cell populations in very low numbers such as transient leukocytes. Cell isolation with high purity is required for many experiments related to the specific biology and biochemistry of these very different cell types. Here, we outline a relatively simple procedure to obtain a high yield of live hepatocytes and sinusoidal endothelial cells. Additionally, this procedure is relatively simple and does not require specialized equipment other than a refrigerated table top centrifuge and peristatic pump. The mouse portal vein is used as the catheterization site rather than the vena cava, limiting contamination of other cell types during the isolation process. Access to the vein is quick minimizing ischemia and reperfusion of the liver which reduces hepatic cell viability. Dead hepatocytes are also easily identified during centrifugation steps due to differences in cell density. This process allows for isolation of hepatocytes with 99% cell purity and isolation of sinusoidal endothelial cells with approximately 89.1% cell purity. This method will help to answer key questions in the hepatotology field such as determining specific cellular functions with in vitro assays or assessing individual cells after an in vivo treatment.Support or Funding InformationFunding is provided in part by the NIH from grant R01HL130864.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.