Adipocyte-Specific ATAC-Seq with Adipose Tissues Using Fluorescence-Activated Nucleus Sorting
Summary
We present a protocol for assay for transposase-accessible chromatin with high-throughput sequencing (ATAC-seq) specifically on adipocytes using nucleus sorting with adipose tissues isolated from transgenic reporter mice with nuclear fluorescence labeling.
Abstract
Assay for transposase-accessible chromatin with high-throughput sequencing (ATAC-seq) is a robust technique that enables genome-wide chromatin accessibility profiling. This technique has been useful for understanding the regulatory mechanisms of gene expression in a range of biological processes. Although ATAC-seq has been modified for different types of samples, there have not been effective modifications of ATAC-seq methods for adipose tissues. Challenges with adipose tissues include the complex cellular heterogeneity, large lipid content, and high mitochondrial contamination. To overcome these problems, we have developed a protocol that allows adipocyte-specific ATAC-seq by employing fluorescence-activated nucleus sorting with adipose tissues from the transgenic reporter Nuclear tagging and Translating Ribosome Affinity Purification (NuTRAP) mouse. This protocol produces high-quality data with minimal wasted sequencing reads while reducing the amount of nucleus input and reagents. This paper provides detailed step-by-step instructions for the ATAC-seq method validated for the use of adipocyte nuclei isolated from mouse adipose tissues. This protocol will aid in the investigation of chromatin dynamics in adipocytes upon diverse biological stimulations, which will allow for novel biological insights.
Introduction
Adipose tissue, which is specialized for storing excess energy in the form of lipid molecules, is a key organ for metabolic regulation. The strict control of adipocyte formation and maintenance is vital for adipose tissue function and whole-body energy homeostasis1. Many transcriptional regulators play a critical role in the control of adipocyte differentiation, plasticity, and function; some of these regulators are implicated in metabolic disorders in humans2,3. Recent advances in high-throughput sequencing techniques for gene expression and epigenomic analysis have further facilitated the discovery of the molecular regulators of adipocyte biology4. Molecular profiling studies using adipose tissues are challenging to conduct due to the heterogeneity of these tissues. Adipose tissue consists primarily of adipocytes, which are responsible for fat storage, but also contains various other cell types, such as fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and immune cells5. In addition, the cellular composition of adipose tissue is dramatically altered in response to pathophysiological changes such as temperature and nutritional status6. To overcome these problems, we previously developed a transgenic reporter mouse, named Nuclear Tagging and Translating Ribosome Affinity Purification (NuTRAP), which produces GFP-tagged ribosomes and mCherry-tagged biotinylated nuclei in a Cre recombinase-dependent manner7. The dual-labeling system enables one to perform cell type-specific transcriptomic and epigenomic analysis with tissues. Using NuTRAP mice crossed with adipocyte-specific adiponectin-Cre lines (Adipoq-NuTRAP), we previously characterized gene expression profiles and chromatin states from pure adipocyte populations in vivo and determined how they are altered during obesity7,8. Previously, NuTRAP mice crossed with brown and beige adipocyte-specific Ucp1-Cre lines (Ucp1-NuTRAP) allowed us to characterize the epigenomic remodeling of the rare thermogenic adipocyte population, beige adipocytes, in response to temperature changes9.
ATAC-seq is a widely used analytical method to assess genome-wide chromatin accessibility.The hyper-reactive Tn5 transposase used in ATAC-seq allows for the identification of open chromatin regions by tagging sequencing adapters in the chromatin-accessible region of nuclei10. ATAC-seq is a simple method, yet it provides robust results and is highly efficient even with low-input samples. It has, thus, become one of the most popular epigenomic profiling methods and has contributed to the understanding of the regulatory mechanisms of gene expression within diverse biological contexts. Since the original ATAC-seq protocol was created, various ATAC-seq-derived techniques have been further developed to modify and optimize the protocol for various types of samples. For example, Fast-ATAC is designed for analyzing blood cell samples11, Omni-ATAC is an optimized protocol for frozen tissue samples12, and MiniATAC-seq is effective for early-stage embryo analysis13. However, applying the ATAC-seq method to adipocytes, especially from tissue samples, is still challenging. In addition to the heterogeneity of adipose tissue, its high lipid content may interfere with efficient recombination reactions by Tn5 transposase even after nucleus isolation. Furthermore, the high mitochondrial content in adipocytes, particularly in brown and beige adipocytes, causes high mitochondrial DNA contamination and wasted sequencing reads. This paper describes a protocol for adipocyte-specific ATAC-seq using Adipoq-NuTRAP mice (Figure 1). By taking advantage of fluorescence-labeled nucleus sorting, this protocol allows the collection of pure populations of adipocyte nuclei away from other confounding cell types and the efficient removal of lipids, mitochondria, and tissue debris. Hence, this protocol can generate cell type-specific high-quality data and minimize waste from mitochondrial reads while using a reduced amount of input and reagents compared to the standard protocol.
Protocol
Representative Results
Discussion
In this paper, we have presented an optimized ATAC-seq protocol to assess adipocyte-specific chromatin accessibility in vivo. This ATAC-seq protocol using the Adipoq-NuTRAP mouse successfully generated adipocyte-specific chromatin accessibility profiles. The most critical factor for successful and reproducible ATAC-seq experiments is nucleus quality. It is critical to immediately snap-freeze the dissected adipose tissues in liquid nitrogen and store them safely at −80 °C without thawing until use. It …
Disclosures
The authors have nothing to disclose.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the IUSM Showalter Research Trust Fund (to H.C.R.), an IUSM Center for Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases Pilot and Feasibility grant (to H.C.R.), the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01DK129289 to H.C.R.), and the American Diabetes Association Junior Faculty Award (7-21-JDF-056 to H.C.R.).
Materials
| Animals | |||
| Adiponectin-Cre mouse | The Jackson Laboratory | 28020 | |
| NuTRAP mouse | The Jackson Laboratory | 29899 | |
| Reagents & Materials | |||
| 1.5 mL DNA-LoBind tubes | Eppendorf | 86-923 | |
| 100 µm cell strainer | Falcon | 352-360 | |
| 15 mL tubes | VWR | 525-1071 | |
| 2x TD buffer | Illumina | 15027866 | |
| 384-well PCR plate | Applied biosystem | 4483285 | |
| 40 µm cell strainer | Falcon | 352-340 | |
| 50 mL tubes | VWR | 525-1077 | |
| AMPure XP reagent (SPRI beads) | Beckman Coulter | A63881 | |
| Bioanalyzer High Sensitivity DNA kit | Agilent Technologies | 5067-4626 | |
| Clear adhesive film | Applied biosystem | 4306311 | |
| DNase/RNase-free distilled water | Invitrogen | 10977015 | |
| Dounce tissue grinder | DWK Life Sciences | 357542 | |
| DTT | Sigma | D9779 | |
| DynaMag-96 side skirted magnet | Thermo Fishers | 12027 | |
| FACS tubes | Falcon | 28719128 | |
| HEPES | Boston BioProducts | BBH-75 | |
| Hoechst 33342 | Invitrogen | 2134015 | |
| KCl (2 M) | Boston BioProducts | MT-252 | |
| Magnetic separation rack for PCR 8-tube strips | EpiCypher | 10-0008 | |
| MgCl2 (1 M) | Boston BioProducts | MT-200 | |
| MinElute PCR purification kit | Qiagen | 28004 | |
| NEBNext High-Fidelity 2x PCR master mix | BioLabs | M0541S | |
| NP40 | Thermo Fishers | 28324 | |
| PCR 8-tube strip | USA scientific | 1402-4708 | |
| Protease inhibitor cocktail (100x) | Thermo Fishers | 78439 | |
| Qubit dsDNA HS assay kit | Invitrogen | Q32851 | |
| Sucrose | Sigma | S0389-1KG | |
| SYBR Green I (10,000x) | Invitrogen | S7563 | |
| TDE I enzyme | Illumina | 15027865 | |
| Instruments | |||
| Flow cytometer | BD Biosciences | FACSAria Fusion | |
| Qubit fluorometer | Invitrogen | Q33226 | |
| Real-Time PCR system | Thermo Fishers | QuantStudio 5 |
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