This protocol describes a technique for cybrid generation from suspension-growing cancer cells as a tool to study the role of mitochondria in the tumorigenic process.
In recent years, the number of studies dedicated to ascertaining the connection between mitochondria and cancer has significantly risen. However, more efforts are still needed to fully understand the link involving alterations in mitochondria and tumorigenesis, as well as to identify tumor-associated mitochondrial phenotypes. For instance, to evaluate the contribution of mitochondria in tumorigenesis and metastasis processes, it is essential to understand the influence of mitochondria from tumor cells in different nuclear environments. For this purpose, one possible approach consists of transferring mitochondria into a different nuclear background to obtain the so-called cybrid cells. In the traditional cybridization techniques, a cell line lacking mtDNA (ρ0, nuclear donor cell) is repopulated with mitochondria derived from either enucleated cells or platelets. However, the enucleation process requires good cell adhesion to the culture plate, a feature that is partially or completely lost in many cases in invasive cells. In addition, another difficulty found in the traditional methods is achieving complete removal of the endogenous mtDNA from the mitochondrial-recipient cell line to obtain pure nuclear and mitochondrial DNA backgrounds, avoiding the presence of two different mtDNA species in the generated cybrid. In this work, we present a mitochondrial exchange protocol applied to suspension-growing cancer cells based on the repopulation of rhodamine 6G-pretreated cells with isolated mitochondria. This methodology allows us to overcome the limitations of the traditional approaches, and thus can be used as a tool to expand the comprehension of the mitochondrial role in cancer progression and metastasis.
Reprogramming energy metabolism is a hallmark of cancer1 that was observed for the first time by Otto Warburg in the 1930s2. Under aerobic conditions, normal cells convert glucose into pyruvate, that then generates acetyl-coA, fuelling the mitochondrial machinery and promoting cellular respiration. Nevertheless, Warburg demonstrated that, even under normoxic conditions, most cancer cells convert pyruvate obtained from the glycolysis process into lactate, shifting their way to obtain energy. This metabolic adjustment is known as the "Warburg effect" and enables some cancer cells to supply their energetic demands for rapid growth and division, despite generating ATP less efficiently than the aerobic process3,4,5. In recent decades, numerous works have supported the implication of metabolism reprogramming in cancer progression. Hence, tumor energetics is considered an interesting target against cancer1. As a central hub in energetic metabolism and in the supply of essential precursors, mitochondria play a key role in these cell adaptations that, to date, we only partially understand.
In line with the above, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations have been proposed as one of the possible causes of this metabolic reprogramming, which could lead to an impaired electron transport chain (ETC) performance6 and would explain why some cancer cells enhance their glycolytic metabolism to survive. Indeed, it has been reported that mtDNA accumulates mutations within cancer cells, being present in at least 50% of tumors7. For example, a recent study carried out by Yuan et al. reported the presence of hypermutated and truncated mtDNA molecules in kidney, colorectal, and thyroid cancers8. Moreover, many works have demonstrated that certain mtDNA mutations are associated with a more aggressive tumor phenotype and with an increase in the metastatic potential of cancer cells9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16.
Despite the apparent relevance of the mitochondrial genome in cancer progression, the study of these mutations and their contribution to the disease have been challenging due to limitations in the experimental models and technologies currently available17. Thus, new techniques to understand the real impact of mitochondria DNA in cancer disease development and progression are needed. In this work, we introduce a protocol for transmitochondrial cybrid generation from suspension-growing cancer cells, based on the repopulation of rhodamine 6G-pretreated cells with isolated mitochondria, that overcomes the main challenges of traditional cybridization methods18,19. This methodology allows the use of any nuclei donor regardless of the availability of their corresponding ρ0 cell line and the transfer of mitochondria from cells that, following the traditional techniques, would be difficult to enucleate (i.e., non-adherent cell lines).
Since Otto Warburg reported that cancer cells shift their metabolism and potentiate "aerobic glycolysis"3,4 while reducing mitochondrial respiration, the interest in the role of mitochondria in cancer transformation and progression has grown exponentially. In recent years, mutations in the mtDNA and mitochondrial dysfunction have been postulated as hallmarks of many cancer types25. To date, numerous studies have analyzed the mtDNA …
The authors have nothing to disclose.
This research was funded by grant number PID2019-105128RB-I00 to RSA, JMB, and AA, and PGC2018-095795-B-I00 to PFS and RML, both funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and grant numbers B31_20R (RSA, JMA, and AA) and E35_17R (PFS and RML) and funded by Gobierno de Aragón. The work of RSA was supported by a grant from the Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer (AECC) PRDAR21487SOLE. The authors would like to acknowledge the use of Servicio General de Apoyo a la Investigación-SAI, Universidad de Zaragoza.
3500XL Genetic Analyzer | ThermoFisher Scientific | 4406016 | |
6-well plate | Corning | 08-772-1B | |
Ammonium persulfate | Sigma-Aldrich | A3678 | |
AmpFlSTR Identifiler Plus PCR Amplification Kit | ThermoFisher Scientific | 4427368 | |
Anode Buffer Container 3500 Series | Applied Biosystems | 4393927 | |
Boric acid | PanReac | 131015 | |
Bradford assay | Biorad | 5000002 | |
Cathode Buffer Container 3500 Series | Applied Biosystems | 4408256 | |
Cell culture flasks | TPP | 90076 | |
DMEM high glucose | Gibco | 11965092 | |
EDTA | PanReac | 131026 | |
Ethidium Bromide | Sigma-Aldrich | E8751 | |
Geneticin | Gibco | 10131027 | |
Homogenizer Teflon pestle | Deltalab | 196102 | |
L929 cell line | ATCC | CCL-1 | |
MiniProtean Tetra4 Gel System | BioRad | 1658004 | |
MOPS | Sigma-Aldrich | M1254 | |
PCR primers | Sigma-Aldrich | Custom products | |
Polyacrylamide Solution 30% | PanReac | A3626 | |
Polyethylene glycol | Sigma-Aldrich | P7181 | |
POP-7 | Applied Biosystems | 4393714 | |
Pyruvate | Sigma-Aldrich | P5280 | |
QIAmp DNA Mini Kit | Qiagen | 51306 | |
Rhodamine-6G | Sigma-Aldrich | R4127 | |
Serum Fetal Bovine | Sigma-Aldrich | F7524 | |
SspI | New England Biolabs | R3132 | |
Streptomycin/penicillin | PAN biotech | P06-07100 | |
Sucrose | Sigma-Aldrich | S3089 | |
TEMED | Sigma-Aldrich | T9281 | |
Tris | PanReac | P14030b | |
Uridine | Sigma-Aldrich | U3750 |