TITLE: Protocol to isolate and fix nuclei from flash frozen mouse liver for IGVF
AUTHORS: Elisabeth Rebboah

[DESCRIPTION]
This protocol describes isolation of nuclei from 10 week old whole mouse livers from 8 founder strains (B6J, AJ, 129S1J, NZOJ, WSBJ, NODJ, PWKJ, and CASTJ), preparation of a single nucleus suspension, and fixation for single nucleus RNA-seq using Parse Biosciences and SHARE-seq using part of the Broad Institute protocol. We process 1 rep from each strain per day; e.g. female rep 1 across all 8 strains. The main products we use are Parse Biosciences Nuclei Fixation Kit (v2) and Miltenyi Biotec’s gentleMACS Octo Dissociator with accessories. This protocol takes about 3.5 hours from start to finish.

The results are 2 aliquots of fixed single-nucleus suspensions for Parse per each of the 8 samples, and 1 fixed nuclei pellet pooled across all 8 strains for SHARE-seq. 


[GUIDELINES]
We recommend using a 5 ml pipette for aspirations and resuspensions > 1 ml.
We cut the frozen livers ahead of time on dry ice to make lysis easier.
Tips to get frozen chopped tissues out of tubes: Use forceps or a 1 ml tip to break up frozen tissue pieces so they can fit on the sides of the C tube. Tap tubes firmly upside-down on bench. Flick/shake open tube over the C tube with lysis buffer. Flick/shake C tube with liver pieces so that they are at least touching the lysis buffer.
Record everything in the IGVF spreadsheet, “Samples into experiment” tab.
When possible, after nuclei isolation and during the first round of counting, 2 technicians should continue on with Parse fixation after establishing the volume needed for roughly 4 million nuclei per sample (4 samples processed per technician). The remaining technician should determine the exact volume needed for 1 million cells and proceed with SHARE-seq fixation. Parallel fixation saves about an hour of time.

[STEPS]
SECTION: Setup
1. Coat SHARE-seq nuclei prep tubes with BSA. Fill 8 1.5 ml tubes with 1.5 ml 1% BSA in H2O and incubate for 30 minutes. After incubation, aspirate BSA solution and dry for 30 minutes. Store at 4C.
SECTION: Setup
2. Label tubes.
SECTION: Setup
3. Pre-chill centrifuge to 4C.
SECTION: Setup
4. Prepare ice buckets.
SECTION: Setup
5. Prepare lysis buffer in a 50 ml conical tube on ice. Distribute 2 ml into 8 gentleMACS C Tubes on ice. Add RNase inhibitor to the lysis buffer aliquot the day of the experiment.
SECTION: Setup
6. Prepare RSB in 2 50 ml conical tubes on ice, 35 ml per tube. Add RNase inhibitor the day of the experiment.
SECTION: Setup
7. Prepare 2 x 3.5 ml nuclei buffer + BSA + RNase inhibitor (NB + BSA).
SECTION: Setup
8. Prepare 2.5 ml nuclei buffer + RNase inhibitor for final resuspension. Add 31.5 ul RNase inhibitor to 2.5 ml nuclei buffer.
SECTION: Setup
9. Prepare 15 ml SHARE-RSB in a 50 ml conical tube at room temperature. 30 ul digitonin, 37.5 ul Enzymatics RI, 18.75 ul SUPERase RI, and 150 ul yeast tRNA.
SECTION: Setup
10. Thaw components of 2 Parse Biosciences Nuclei Fixation v2 kits at room temperature, then place on ice.
SECTION: Setup
11. Distribute 20 ul NucBlue Fixed Cell ReadyProbes into 16 PCR strip tubes for cell counting. Need 8 tubes for counting after nuclei extraction, and another 8 tubes for final fixed nuclei.
SECTION: Tissue sectioning
12. Keep flash frozen tissue samples on dry ice.
SECTION: Tissue sectioning
13. Tilt frozen tissues into a plastic petri dish on dry ice. 
SECTION: Tissue sectioning
14. Using a clean razor blade, roughly chop tissue into pieces ~500 mg. Not necessary to chop tissues < 500 mg.
SECTION: Tissue sectioning
15. Using clean forceps, move chopped, frozen tissue back to the original 2 ml tube. Tissue should never be thawed during this process.
SECTION: Tissue lysis and nuclei extraction
16. Keep chopped flash frozen tissue samples on dry ice until lysis.
SECTION: Tissue lysis and nuclei extraction
17. Drop whole frozen tissue into a chilled gentleMACS C Tube with 3.5 ml lysis buffer. For NZO mice, use 4 ml lysis buffer. Close tubes firmly and invert immediately, ensuring tissue is not stuck to the bottom or side. Keep tubes on ice and proceed immediately to dissociation.
SECTION: Tissue lysis and nuclei extraction
18. Run the gentleMACS Program 4C_nuclei_1 on the Octo Dissociator (~5 minutes).
SECTION: Tissue lysis and nuclei extraction
19. Remove tubes, ensuring tissue did not get stuck on the sides, and spin down in a 4C centrifuge for ~10 seconds to bring liquid to the bottom, then place tubes back on ice.
SECTION: Tissue lysis and nuclei extraction
20. Filter nuclei suspension through 70 um MACS SmartStrainer into a 15 ml tube. Fit a tube rack in ice for extra stability while filtering.
SECTION: Tissue lysis and nuclei extraction
21. Wash 70 um MACS SmartStrainer with 2.5 ml additional lysis buffer. Add 2.5 ml to C tubes, cap, and swish to recover any nuclei stuck to the sides and cap of the C tubes, then wash the strainer.
SECTION: Tissue lysis and nuclei extraction
22. Discard strainer and centrifuge the 4 ml nuclei suspension at 4C, 350g for 5 minutes. 
SECTION: Tissue lysis and nuclei extraction
23. Resuspend nuclei pellet in 3.5 ml RSB.
SECTION: Tissue lysis and nuclei extraction
24. Filter nuclei suspension through 30 um MACS SmartStrainer into a 5 ml tube.
SECTION: Tissue lysis and nuclei extraction
25. Dilute some nuclei 1:10 by adding 500 ul nuclei to 4.5 ml RSB. This should help the concentration reach around 4 million per ml.
SECTION: Tissue lysis and nuclei extraction
26. Count 1:10 diluted nuclei. Use 1:5 dilution factor, e.g. 5 ul + 20 ul dye. Final dilution factor = 50.
SECTION: Parse nuclei fixation
27. Set aside 4 million nuclei in RSB in a new 5 ml tube and spin down at 4C, 550g for 5 minutes.
SECTION: Parse nuclei fixation
28. Remove supernatant and and resuspend nuclei in 750 ul NB + BSA + RNase inhibitor through a 40 um strainer (provided in Parse Biosciences kit) into a new 5 ml tube.
SECTION: Parse nuclei fixation
29. Add 250 uL Nuclei Fixation Solution and mix 3 times. Do not over-mix.
SECTION: Parse nuclei fixation
30. Incubate nuclei for 10 minutes on ice. Set 1 P200 pipettes to 80 ul and keep the P1000 at 250 ul.
SECTION: Parse nuclei fixation
31. Add 80 uL Nuclei Permeabilization Solution and mix by pipetting 3 times with the P1000 still set to 250 uL. Do not over-mix.
SECTION: Parse nuclei fixation
32. Incubate 3 minutes with nuclei on ice.
SECTION: Parse nuclei fixation
33. Add 4 ml Nuclei Neutralization Solution and invert the tube once to mix. 
SECTION: Parse nuclei fixation
34. Centrifuge at 4C, 750g for 10 minutes.
SECTION: Parse nuclei fixation
35. Aspirate and discard supernatant.
SECTION: Parse nuclei fixation
36. Resuspend the samples in 300 ul Nuclei Buffer with RNase inhibitor without BSA and move through a 40 um filter into a labeled 1.5 ml tube.
SECTION: Parse nuclei fixation
37. Count nuclei. Use 1:11 dilution factor, e.g. 2 ul + 20 ul dye.
SECTION: Parse nuclei fixation
38. Add Nuclei DMSO: 5 uL and gently flick tubes to mix. One minute later, add another 5 uL and flick to mix, then after another minute add a final 5 uL for a total volume of 15 uL. Mix by gently pipetting 5x with a P200 set to 125 ul.
SECTION: Parse nuclei fixation
39. Split nuclei suspension into 2 labeled tubes, 150 ul per tube.
SECTION: Parse nuclei fixation
40. Place tubes in a Mr. Frosty at -80C. The next day, move tubes to boxes in -80C racks. 
SECTION: Parse nuclei fixation
41. Move leftover nuclei suspension to labeled 2 ml tubes and spin at 4C, 750g for 5 minutes. Remove supernatant and flash-freeze nuclei in liquid nitrogen as dry pellets. Store at -80C.
SECTION: SHARE-seq nuclei fixation
42. Set aside 1 million nuclei for each of the 8 samples in RSB and spin down at 4C, 750g for 5 minutes.
SECTION: SHARE-seq nuclei fixation
43. Remove supernatant and resuspend nuclei pellet in 1 ml room temperature SHARE-RSB. Transfer tube to a room temperature rack.
SECTION: SHARE-seq nuclei fixation
44. At RT, add 13.34 ul of methanol-free formaldehyde (16% stock solution). Final concentration for nuclei: 0.2%. Close tube and nutate  cells at RT for 5 minutes.
SECTION: SHARE-seq nuclei fixation
45. To quench fixation, per reaction, add 56.1 ul fresh 2.5M Glycine (0.94g per 5 ml stock), 50 ul of 1M Tris pH 8.0, 13.3ul of 7.5% BSA, and mix using a pipette. Incubate on ice for 10 minutes.
SECTION: SHARE-seq nuclei fixation
46. Spin 750g, 4C, 5 minutes. Gently remove supernatant.
SECTION: SHARE-seq nuclei fixation
47. Add 200 ul of SHARE-RSB and gently resuspend pellet. Store on ice until all samples are completed.
SECTION: SHARE-seq nuclei fixation
48. Pool 200 ul of resuspended nuclei from all 8 founders into 1 labeled 2 ml tube.
SECTION: SHARE-seq nuclei fixation
49. Spin 1,000g, 4C, 10 minutes. Gently remove supernatant. Remove all fluid and freeze at -80C as a dry pellet.
50. Move remaining nuclei in RSB on ice to labeled 2 ml tubes.
51. Spin 750g, 4C, 5 minutes.
52. Remove all supernatant and flash-freeze nuclei as a dry pellet in liquid nitrogen. Store at -80C.