Volume 52 (8): 1011-1018, 2004 Copyright ©The Histochemical Society, Inc. Rapid Analysis of Mitochondrial DNA Depletion by Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization and Immunocytochemistry : Potential Strategies for HIV Therapeutic Monitoring
Molecular Probes, Inc. (MSJ,BJH,DMH,GMB,JYA,SWS,WGC), and Institute of Molecular Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon (KY,RAC) Correspondence to: Michael S. Janes, Molecular Probes, Inc., 29851 Willow Creek Road, Eugene, Oregon 97402. E-mail: mike.janes{at}probes.com
Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) have been a mainstay in the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus since the introduction of azidothymidine (AZT) in 1987. However, none of the current therapies can completely eradicate the virus, necessitating long-term use of anti-retroviral drugs to prevent viral re-growth. One of the side effects associated with long-term use of NRTIs is mitochondrial toxicity stemming from inhibition of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) polymerase , which leads to mtDNA depletion and consequently to mitochondrial dysfunction. Here we report the use of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and immunocytochemistry (ICC) to monitor mtDNA depletion in cultured fibroblasts treated with the NRTI 2',3'-dideoxycytidine (ddC). These techniques are amenable to both microscopy and flow cytometry, allowing analysis of populations of cells on a single-cell basis. We show that, as mtDNA depletion progresses, a mosaic population develops, with some cells being depleted of and others retaining mtDNA. These techniques could be useful as potential therapeutic monitors to indicate when NRTI therapy should be interrupted to prevent mitochondrial toxicity and could aid in the development of less toxic NRTIs by providing an assay suitable for pharmacodynamic evaluation of candidate molecules. (J Histochem Cytochem 52:10111018, 2004)
Key Words: mitochondria oxidative phosphorylation mitochondrial DNA HIV AIDS mitochondrial disease nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor cytochrome c oxidase immunocytochemistry FISH
MITOCHONDRIA play a critical role in many cellular processes. They provide more than 95% of the cellular ATP through the process of oxidative phosphorylation, function in several other metabolic processes, have a role in ion homeostasis, and are a key player in apoptosis or programmed cell death (Scheffler 1999
There is increasingly strong evidence that mitochondria originated as symbiotic bacteria. They retain a prokaryote-like DNA, which in all species encodes a fraction of the proteins of the organelle. In mammals, mtDNA is a 16-kb double-stranded circular DNA that encodes 13 different polypeptides, all involved in oxidative phosphorylation, along with two rRNAs and 22 tRNAs (Anderson et al. 1981
The current strategy for managing mitochondrial toxicity associated with NRTI therapy requires temporarily removing patients from the treatment to recover mitochondrial function before the viral load becomes life threatening (Lewis 2003 Here we report the use of mtDNA FISH and ICC to monitor mtDNA depletion in cultured fibroblasts treated with the NRTI ddC and compare the results obtained with these methods to those obtained by the population-based technique of conventional real-time PCR.
Cell Culture MRC5 fibroblasts were obtained from the American Type Culture Collection (Manassas, VA). Fibroblasts were grown in high- glucose DMEM containing 110 µg/ml sodium pyruvate supplemented with 2 mM L-glutamine, 10% FBS, 50 µg/ml uridine (Sigma-Aldrich; St Louis, MO), and 10 mM HEPES buffer to maximize growth rates, as modified from a previously described method of cell culture (Marusich et al. 1997
Real-time PCR
Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization For microscopic analysis, MRC5 fibroblasts were grown to 5070% confluency on glass coverslips. In some instances, cells were incubated for 20 min at 37C in 300 nM MitoTracker Red dye (Molecular Probes) in culture medium to counterstain the mitochondria. Cells were then washed twice with PBS before fixation in 4% paraformaldehyde in complete medium for 20 min at 37C. After fixation, cells were washed in PBS and permeabilized in 0.1% Triton X-100 for 10 min at room temperature. Cells were again washed twice in PBS before treatment with 0.1 mg/ml DNase-free RNase (Roche Diagnostics; Indianapolis, IN) for 90 min at 37C. Meanwhile, microscope slides were pre-warmed to 74C on a slide warmer. The cells were then washed twice with PBS and excess liquid was blotted from the coverslips. To the pre-warmed slide, 15 µl of the mtDNA or negative control probe was added [0.5 ng/µl in 50% formamide, 10% dextran sulfate, 2 x saline sodium citrate (SSC) buffer]. Coverslips were mounted on the pre-warmed slides and incubated on the slide warmer for 5 min at 74C, allowing simultaneous denaturation of targets and probes. Coverslips were sealed to the slides with rubber cement and the probes were left to hybridize overnight at 37C in a dark humidified chamber. Coverslips were removed from the slides and washed once in 2 x SSC buffer at RT, followed by one wash in 2 x SSC and one in 0.5 x SSC each for 5 min at 40C. Samples were then rinsed in PBS, counterstained with 0.2 ng/ml 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole dihydrochloride (DAPI) (Molecular Probes) for 2 min, and mounted in ProLong antifade reagent (Molecular Probes). All samples prepared for microscopic evaluation were visualized with a Nikon Eclipse 800 fluorescence microscope (Nikon Instruments; Melville, NY) equipped with a Micromax 1300 YHS camera (Roper Scientific; Trenton, NJ). Images were acquired with MetaMorph software v4.6.9 (Universal Imaging; Downingtown, PA) and appropriate filter sets (Omega Optical; Brattleboro, VT).
For flow cytometric analysis, fibroblasts were labeled in suspension. The FISH protocol is the same as above, with the following exceptions. Cells were harvested by removing the culture medium from a nearly confluent culture dish, washing the cells once with pre-warmed (37C) PBS, releasing the cells by incubation in a pre-warmed solution of trypsin and EDTA (0.25% and 1 mM, respectively) for
Immunocytochemistry For flow cytometric analysis, cells were harvested and fixed as described above for FISH methods. Approximately two million fixed cells per sample underwent antigen retrieval as described above, with vortexing every few minutes. Samples were washed once with PBS before being permeabilized with 0.1% Triton X-100 and blocked with PBS containing 30 µg goat IgG for 10 and 30 min at RT, respectively. Primary and secondary antibody incubations were for 60 and 30 min at RT, respectively, with a wash in between and after incubations using PBS containing 1% BSA. All antibodies were used at 2 µg per sample and ICC controls were performed as described above.
Real-time PCR Depletion of mtDNA has been quantitated previously by real-time PCR, a method considered highly accurate for monitoring changes in DNA levels (Cote et al. 2002
Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization Microscopic analysis of untreated MRC5 fibroblasts hybridized with a full-length mtDNA probe produced punctate spots throughout the cytoplasm. Co-localization studies with MitoTracker Red dye revealed that these spots lay within the mitochondrial reticulum (Figure 2A). FISH analysis was also carried out on MRC5 fibroblasts grown for 1, 3, 5, or 7 PDs in 4 µM ddC. This analysis revealed that cells were progressively depleted of mtDNA as a function of time in culture with ddC (PD 7 shown in Figure 2B). Negative control samples hybridized with a probe to Arabidopsis thaliana DNA showed no specific staining in the mitochondria (Figure 2C).
FISH samples prepared for more quantitative analysis by flow cytometry revealed a pattern of mtDNA depletion consistent with microscopic observations (Figure 3). Untreated populations of fibroblasts labeled with the mtDNA probe produced signals exceeding but similar to cells hybridized after one PD in ddC (Figure 3). Longer exposures to ddC resulted in mtDNA probe signals approximately threefold lower than untreated cells, levels corresponding to background as indicated by the negative control A. thaliana DNA probe (Figure 3).
Immunocytochemistry MRC5 fibroblasts grown for 0, 1, 3, 5, or 7 PDs in 4 µM ddC were double-labeled with a control antibody against porin and an antibody against COX I. Porin is an nDNA-encoded mitochondrial protein whose levels remain relatively constant even in cells with oxidative phosphorylation defects, and was used to control for mitochondrial mass. Microscopic analysis revealed that whereas levels of porin remain relatively constant with increased PD in ddC, cell populations exposed to the drug became depleted of the mtDNA-encoded COX I (Figure 4). Cells exposed to ddC quickly became mosaic with respect to COX I as mtDNA depletion proceeded (Figure 4). These samples were uniformly depleted of COX I by 7 PDs in ddC (Figure 4).
MRC5 fibroblasts grown for 0, 1, 3, 5, or 7 PDs in 4 µM ddC were also double-labeled as above for flow cytometric analysis. With increasing PD in ddC, flow cytometry revealed a decrease in COX I while levels of porin were maintained (Figure 5). These results demonstrated not only the potential utility of these antibodies in therapeutic monitoring but also their amenability to rapid analysis of cell populations by flow cytometry. All ICC controls were negative, and signals reported in all relevant figures were considered specific.
In this study, three detection methods were used to follow mtDNA depletion. The first two methods, FISH and real-time PCR, were used to monitor the amounts of mtDNA in cells directly. The third method, ICC, was used to detect the mtDNA-encoded COX I protein and thus indirectly measure the loss of mitochondrial DNA. As levels of the mitochondrial genome decreased, the progressive loss of COX I was observed and, as expected, trailed the loss of mtDNA as measured directly. Levels of the nDNA-encoded porin, as measured immunocytochemically, were maintained throughout the exposure of cells to NRTI.
mtDNA depletion can occur through several mechanisms and, when extensive, is detrimental to cellular respiration and ATP synthesis. Mutations in enzymes responsible for mtDNA transcription have been described that lead to mtDNA depletion syndromes (Taanman 1999
Recent studies have indicated that mtDNA depletion can lead to many of the severe side effects that occur during drug therapy. The best-documented and most important example is the now widely described NRTI-induced mtDNA depletion present in a significant proportion of patients being treated with these drugs for HIV infection (Lewis 2003
The current strategy for managing side effects arising from mitochondrial toxicity associated with NRTI treatment is the temporary removal of HIV-affected patients from therapy to allow for new mtDNA replication before a deleterious increase in viral load ensues (Moyle 2000
We have described microscopic observations of samples prepared for FISH and ICC that provide a simple qualitative assessment of mtDNA depletion suitable for even the most basic clinical situations. Furthermore, microscopy revealed clear mosaicism by 3 PDs in ddC, a clinically significant observation not evident from real-time PCR analysis in which subpopulations are lost in an average of the whole population. Inasmuch as this additional information reflects compromised oxidative phosphorylation and subsequent side effects, the use of monoclonal antibodies should prove quite valuable in therapeutic monitoring during management of pathologies such as HIV infection. A variety of different cell and tissue types, including leukocytes and adipose tissue, are affected by NRTI therapy and represent potential targets for immunological detection of mtDNA depletion in the context of HIV therapeutic monitoring (Cote et al. 2002 The FISH method follows the loss of mtDNA copies directly, but the protocol requires 24 hr and multiple steps to perform. The loss of COX I is an indirect measure of mtDNA depletion because the levels of subunit observed are determined by the transcription and translation rates from available mtDNA copies and the rate of polypeptide loss as previously assembled cytochrome c oxidase complexes are degraded. Not surprisingly, the loss of COX I trails the loss of mtDNA copies but, in effect, both the ICC and FISH methods can be used to establish a standard curve for mtDNA depletion (Figure 5, inset graph). As demonstrated here, one advantage of the ICC approach is that it can be completed and the data analyzed within 4 hr. Moreover, this method is readily adaptable to a 96-well plate format for simultaneously screening multiple patient samples. Such a high-throughput format should aid in the development of less toxic NRTIs and in drug evaluation where mitochondrial toxicity is of concern. Although all three methods were effective in monitoring changes in mtDNA content, the ICC approach was considerably faster, less expensive, and is easily amenable to high-throughput screening. Importantly, ICC data were confirmed by direct detection of mtDNA content by real-time PCR and FISH analysis. This illustrates the utility of antibodies directed against mtDNA-encoded proteins as surrogate markers for mtDNA in the context of NRTI screening and as a front-line method to monitor mtDNA toxicity.
We are grateful to Michael J. Ignatius for review of this manuscript, to James D. Hirsch for conjugation of secondary antibodies, and to Marci Cardon for assistance with manuscript preparation. Alexa Fluor, MitoTracker, and ProLong are registered trademarks of Molecular Probes, Inc.
Received for publication November 21, 2003; accepted April 18, 2004
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