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Not All Lectins Are Equally Suitable for Labeling Rodent Vasculature

Battistella, Roberta LU ; Kritsilis, Marios LU orcid ; Matuskova, Hana LU ; Haswell, Douglas ; Cheng, Anne Xiaoan ; Meissner, Anja LU ; Nedergaard, Maiken and Lundgaard, Iben LU (2021) In International Journal of Molecular Sciences 22(21).
Abstract

The vascular system is vital for all tissues and the interest in its visualization spans many fields. A number of different plant-derived lectins are used for detection of vasculature; however, studies performing direct comparison of the labeling efficacy of different lectins and techniques are lacking. In this study, we compared the labeling efficacy of three lectins: Griffonia simplicifolia isolectin B4 (IB4); wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), and Lycopersicon esculentum agglutinin (LEA). The LEA lectin was identified as being far superior to the IB4 and WGA lectins in histological labeling of blood vessels in brain sections. A similar signal-to-noise ratio was achieved with high concentrations of the WGA lectin injected during... (More)

The vascular system is vital for all tissues and the interest in its visualization spans many fields. A number of different plant-derived lectins are used for detection of vasculature; however, studies performing direct comparison of the labeling efficacy of different lectins and techniques are lacking. In this study, we compared the labeling efficacy of three lectins: Griffonia simplicifolia isolectin B4 (IB4); wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), and Lycopersicon esculentum agglutinin (LEA). The LEA lectin was identified as being far superior to the IB4 and WGA lectins in histological labeling of blood vessels in brain sections. A similar signal-to-noise ratio was achieved with high concentrations of the WGA lectin injected during intracardial perfusion. Lectins were also suitable for labeling vasculature in other tissues, including spinal cord, dura mater, heart, skeletal muscle, kidney, and liver tissues. In uninjured tissues, the LEA lectin was as accurate as the Tie2-eGFP reporter mice and GLUT-1 immunohistochemistry for labeling the cerebral vasculature, validating its specificity and sensitivity. However, in pathological situations, e.g., in stroke, the sensitivity of the LEA lectin decreases dramatically, limiting its applicability in such studies. This work can be used for selecting the type of lectin and labeling method for various tissues.

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author
; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
International Journal of Molecular Sciences
volume
22
issue
21
article number
11554
publisher
MDPI AG
external identifiers
  • pmid:34768985
  • scopus:85117965230
ISSN
1422-0067
DOI
10.3390/ijms222111554
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
859da365-4ce8-489d-98ff-8cac32188db7
date added to LUP
2021-11-20 15:28:34
date last changed
2024-04-20 16:50:09
@article{859da365-4ce8-489d-98ff-8cac32188db7,
  abstract     = {{<p>The vascular system is vital for all tissues and the interest in its visualization spans many fields. A number of different plant-derived lectins are used for detection of vasculature; however, studies performing direct comparison of the labeling efficacy of different lectins and techniques are lacking. In this study, we compared the labeling efficacy of three lectins: Griffonia simplicifolia isolectin B4 (IB4); wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), and Lycopersicon esculentum agglutinin (LEA). The LEA lectin was identified as being far superior to the IB4 and WGA lectins in histological labeling of blood vessels in brain sections. A similar signal-to-noise ratio was achieved with high concentrations of the WGA lectin injected during intracardial perfusion. Lectins were also suitable for labeling vasculature in other tissues, including spinal cord, dura mater, heart, skeletal muscle, kidney, and liver tissues. In uninjured tissues, the LEA lectin was as accurate as the Tie2-eGFP reporter mice and GLUT-1 immunohistochemistry for labeling the cerebral vasculature, validating its specificity and sensitivity. However, in pathological situations, e.g., in stroke, the sensitivity of the LEA lectin decreases dramatically, limiting its applicability in such studies. This work can be used for selecting the type of lectin and labeling method for various tissues.</p>}},
  author       = {{Battistella, Roberta and Kritsilis, Marios and Matuskova, Hana and Haswell, Douglas and Cheng, Anne Xiaoan and Meissner, Anja and Nedergaard, Maiken and Lundgaard, Iben}},
  issn         = {{1422-0067}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{21}},
  publisher    = {{MDPI AG}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Molecular Sciences}},
  title        = {{Not All Lectins Are Equally Suitable for Labeling Rodent Vasculature}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms222111554}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/ijms222111554}},
  volume       = {{22}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}