Modification of Single Cells Within Mouse Mammary Gland Derived Acini via Viral Transduction

The growth of organoid cultures from primary donor tissue is able to recapitulate the original tissue morphology, heterogeneity, and characteristics. Close study of these cultures grants a deeper understanding of the chain of events occurring during disease progression and healthy tissue development. While patient derived organoids are particularly suited to assay for novel treatment options, organoids obtained from model organisms are perfectly suited to establish in-depth analysis technology, including longitudinal imaging approaches, as well as proof of principle studies that rely on a steady source of primary tissue. All these approaches profit from advancements in technology to manipulate cells within an organoid.Here we present an optimized protocol to generate, culture, and transduce 3D acini obtained from mouse primary mammary epithelial cells via viral vectors. Applying this method, a few cells within the preserved organoid can be marked, changed, and tracked within an unaltered neighboring environment of non-transduced cells to better understand processes like, for instance, tumor initiation.