Presenter: Rafael Arrojo e Drigo, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University
Abstract
Cells in largely post-mitotic organs can be as old as their host organism. These long-lived cells (LLCs) face a lifelong demand for performance to maintain organ function and are constantly exposed to drivers of molecular and cellular damage. Accordingly, dysfunction of LLCs is associated with aging and age-associated disease processes. Understanding cellular longevity mechanisms requires the identity and distribution pattern of LLCs. We developed imaging tools to quantify the age of cells in situ, which led to the discovery of new LLC types throughout the mouse body. This includes different cell types in the pancreas, where most beta cells can be as old as neurons in the brain. In this presentation, I will show how we apply different microscopy tools to bridge spatial and temporal scales in biology to quantify protein complex, organelle, and cell age in tissues. Applicable to virtually any cell, this imaging platform can reveal the temporal dynamics and longevity of structural components in vivo and their contribution to cell and tissue organization and function.
Upcoming webinars schedule: https://dknet.org/about/webinar
dkNET Webinar "Visualizing Organelle and Cell Longevity In Situ" 05/20/22
1. Rafael Arrojo e Drigo, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
Vanderbilt University
Visualizing organelle and cellular
turnover in vivo
2. Long-lived cells endure a life-long
pressure to maintain function and identity
• Aging associates with the decline in function of
different cells and organs (mainly post-mitotic)
• Higher incidence of metabolic and degenerative
diseases
Need to understand cell longevity and homeostasis
mechanisms in health and disease
Reverse engineer long-lived cells to discover
methods to repair and/or protect tissues from age-
related functional decline
Lopez-Otin, Cell, 2013
3. 1940’s: From “wear and tear” to “metabolic regeneration”
Harold Urey Rudolf Schoenheimer
David Rittenberg
15N-Leucine
15N-Glycine
(3 days)
Rat 15N-Rat Schoenheimer et al, The dynamic state of body constituents, 1942
4. Identification of long-lived proteins (LLPs) in the CNS
1. What is the distribution of LLPs in situ?
2. Are there long-lived cells outside the brain
and do they have LLPs?
Low spatial resolution
Toyama et al, 2013, 2019
D’angelo et al, 2009
Brain
Method rationale is similar to radiocarbon dating (14C)
pioneered by Will Libby and Jim Arnold in the 1940/50’s
5. Rate of beta cell proliferation
~1-3% 1-2 months
< 1% 24 months
Rodents Humans
Dor et al, Nature 2004
Krishnamurthy, Nature 2006
Rankin, Diabetes 2009
Stolovich-Rain, JBC 2012
Wang et al, Cell Metabolism 2016
Islets of Langerhans, multi-cellular organoids in the pancreas
Alpha Beta
Delta Endothelial
Ductal Fibroblast Acinar
Arrojo e Drigo et al, 2019
What is the longevity of islet and
exocrine cells?
x
z
y
time
6. Tissue
Imaging islets across scales: from
macro to nanometer resolution
X-ray microscopy
Cell
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
Sub-cellular
Tomography
Islet of Langerhans
Arrojo e Drigo et al, 2019
Scale of resolution
Micrometer Nanometer
7. The islet structure in 3D
Alpha cell Beta cell
Cell and organelles in 3D
Unpublished data
8. Tissue Islet of Langerhans Cell
Imaging islets across scales: from
macro to nanometer resolution
Time
9. Age of stars and
the universe
Stardust
Mice labelled with
the stable isotope 15N
Age of cells,
organelles
and protein
super-complexes
Multi-isotope mass spectrometry (MIMS)
Resolution in XY: up to 50nm
Resolution in Z: nanometer range
Tissues
Correlative electron and multi-isotope imaging platform (MIMS-EM)
Chase with 14N
(up to 26 months)
Long-lived mice
15N is retained in old
structures
FVB
Arrojo e Drigo et al, 2019
10. Cellular archeology - visualizing long-lived cells with MIMS-EM
Mass
detectors
• x
Cs+
15N
14
N
Tissue section with 15N-labelled
cells and proteins
x
y
z
Ratiometric
images
Young Old
Arrojo e Drigo et al, 2019
37 370
15N/14N ratio
Mouse brain cortex, layer 2
11. The islet contains cells with vastly
different longevities
MIMS
SEM
MIMS
SEM
MIMS
SEM
Pulse with 15N until P45
Chased for 18 months
37 740
15N/14N ratio
Arrojo e Drigo et al, 2019
“Longevity window”
P45
18 months
Old
Young
Pulse:
Chase:
Beta
Alpha
Delta
(in relation to cortical neurons)
P21
26 months
12. SEM + 3D reconstruction
MIMS
37 740
15N/14N ratio
Correlation of cell structure at the nanometer
resolution range and cell age - in situ
0 5 10 15
0
100
200
300
400
500
Mitochondrial Fraction
15
N/
14
N
ratio
r2 = 0.34
p = 0.003
Mitochondrial volume
and cell age
13. Long-lived
Weaning
Milk
Carbs Changes in nutrient
composition and/or
demand for cell function
Very young
Beta cell
Future directions / experiments in the
works:
• What is the functional profile and
physiological role of long-lived beta cells?
• Can we enhance / modulate beta cell
longevity?
• Earliest timepoint when long-lived beta cells
are born?
• What determines if a beta cell will be long-
lived (or not)?
Adult
cell
16. 6-month old mouse
L2 cortex neuron
Age heterogeneity of large protein complexes in situ
Toyama et al, 2019
Nuclear Pore Complex
Regulates nucleus-
cytoplasmic transport,
gene expression and
chromatin structure
20. Adult beta cell physiology Beta cell development
Arrojo e Drigo, R. Diabetes, 2021
What is the molecular signature of aging
human beta cells?
(Shresta et al, in revision)
21. Vanderbilt University
• Owen McGuiness
• David Wasserman
• Louise Lantier
• Alyssa Hasty
• Al Powers
• Roland Stein
UCSD - NCMIR
• Mark H. Ellisman
• Keunyoung Kim
• Thomas Deerinck
• Ranjan Ramachandra
• Eric Bushong
Caltech - GPS
• Yunbin Guan
• Victoria Orphan
@deltacells
Thank you for your attention!
r.drigo@Vanderbilt.edu
https://lab.vanderbilt.edu/drigo-lab/
Alberta Diabetes Institute
• Patrick MacDonald
• Birbickram Roy
Stanford
• Seung Kim
UC Boulder
• Leslie Leinwand
• Jack Gugel
Hebrew University
• Yuval Dor (Hebrew Univ)
Funding agencies
Arrojo e Drigo Lab
Jade
McDaniels
Emilee
Patterson
Melanie
Cutler
Cristiane
Dos Santos, PhD
R03 DK127484
U01DK120447
R01DK128932
R01GM029090
DRTC P&F
5U24DK097771