Rapid Lipid Quantification in Caenorhabditis elegans by Oil Red O and Nile Red Staining
Nicole Stuhr,
James Nhan,
Amy Hammerquist,
Bennett Van Camp,
David Reoyo,
Sean Curran
Affiliations
Nicole Stuhr
Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United StatesDepartment of Molecular and Computational Biology, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States
James Nhan
Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United StatesDepartment of Molecular and Computational Biology, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States
Amy Hammerquist
Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United StatesDepartment of Molecular and Computational Biology, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States
Bennett Van Camp
Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States
David Reoyo
Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States
Sean Curran
Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, Los Angeles, United StatesDepartment of Molecular and Computational Biology, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States
The ability to stain lipid stores in vivo allows for the facile assessment of metabolic status in individuals of a population following genetic and environmental manipulation or pharmacological treatment. In the animal model Caenorhabditis elegans, lipids are stored in and mobilized from intracellular lipid droplets in the intestinal and hypodermal tissues. The abundance, size, and distribution of these lipids can be readily assessed by two staining methods for neutral lipids: Oil Red O (ORO) and Nile Red (NR). ORO and NR can be used to quantitatively measure lipid droplet abundance, while ORO can also define tissue distribution and lipid droplet size. C. elegans are a useful animal model in studying pathways relating to aging, fat storage, and metabolism, as their transparent nature allows for easy microscopic assessment of lipid droplets. This is done by fixation and permeabilization, staining with NR or ORO, image capture on a microscope, and computational identification and quantification of lipid droplets in individuals within a cohort. To ensure reproducibility in lipid measurements, we provide a detailed protocol to measure intracellular lipid dynamics in C. elegans.Graphic abstract: Flow chart depicting the preparation of C. elegans for fat staining protocols.
