Background

The characterisation of dividing brain cells is fundamental for studies ranging from developmental and stem cell biology, to brain cancers. Whilst there is extensive anatomical data on these dividing cells, limited gene transcription data is available due to technical constraints.

New method

We focally isolated dividing cells whilst conserving RNA, from culture, primary neural tissue and xenografted glioma tumours, using a thymidine analogue that enables gene transcription analysis.

Results

5-ethynyl-2-deoxyuridine labels the replicating DNA of dividing cells. Once labelled, cultured cells and tissues were dissociated, fluorescently tagged with a revised click chemistry technique and the dividing cells isolated using fluorescence-assisted cell sorting. RNA was extracted and analysed using real time PCR. Proliferation and maturation related gene expression in neurogenic tissues was demonstrated in acutely and 3 day old labelled cells, respectively. An elevated expression of marker and pathway genes was demonstrated in the dividing cells of xenografted brain tumours, with the non-dividing cells showing relatively low levels of expression.

Comparison with existing method

BrdU “immune-labelling”, the most frequently used protocol for detecting cell proliferation, causes complete denaturation of RNA, precluding gene transcription analysis. This EdU labelling technique, maintained cell integrity during dissociation, minimized copper exposure during labelling and used a cell isolation protocol that avoided cell lysis, thus conserving RNA.

Conclusions

The technique conserves RNA, enabling the definition of cell proliferation-related changes in gene transcription of neural and pathological brain cells in cells harvested immediately after division, or following a period of maturation.