The authors thank members of the Shapiro lab and Erin Schrader for comments on the manuscript. The authors acknowledge financial support from: NIH postdoctoral fellowship F32 GM100732 to JMS and NIH grants R01 GM51426 and R01 GM32506 to LS.

1.大型同步性 - 最佳西方印迹，芯片/ RNA测序，和其他物资集约化化验<ol><li>从冰柜股票或板块，通过在28°C在PYE中颤抖成长应变NA1000的5毫升O / N培养。 </li><li>接种0.5ml所细胞从步骤1在25毫升M2G的（表1-2）和摇动在28℃，直到培养物达到0.5和0.6之间的OD 600。 </li><li>接种细胞到1升M2G和动摇，在28°C。 </li><li>一旦OD 600达到0.5至0.6，确认swarmer使用液相安装相位显微镜细胞的存在。点1微升的细胞在载玻片上的，盖上盖玻片，并通过图像相显微镜。通过在人口可视迅速游动细胞确认swarmer细胞的存在。 </li><li>在7 KXG在JA-10转子旋转细胞进行15分钟，在4℃。 </li><li>弃去上清液，加入冷M2的180毫升（表1-2），轻轻水库uspend所有使用血清吸管的细胞。放弃松散沉淀的细胞;他们是predivisional大步细胞。 </li><li>增加60毫升冷的胶体二氧化硅溶液（前务必同时增加了细胞混合胶体二氧化硅悬浮液）和混合细胞悬液好。 </li><li>倾细胞悬液分为八个30毫升管和在JA-20转子旋转30分钟，在6.4 KXG在4℃。 注:每个人都应该看到两个不同的频段;所述swarmer频带是低频带，而柄/ predivisional细胞是在顶带（ 图1B）。 </li><li>小心吸顶带，并取出液体约1厘米以上的swarmer频段（低频带）。 </li><li> （严重）用巴斯德吸管，小心地取出swarmer带，并放入一个干净的试管。洗去胶体二氧化硅，顶管断用冷M2和自旋10分钟，在6.4 KXG在4℃下在JA-20转子。 </li><li>小心弃去上清液，重悬细胞在20毫升冷M2的和自旋为在6.4 KXG在JA-20转子10分钟，在4℃。 </li><li>重悬的所有粒料于30毫升冷的M2的和使用分光光度计测量的OD 600和空白使用冷M2培养基。保存1微升相成像检查swarmer细胞;细胞的90-95％应是游动。 </li><li>在JA-20转子降速细胞5分钟，在6.4 KXG在4℃。悬浮细胞在28°C M2G中，这样的A 600为0.3-0.4〜并开始晃动，在28°C。 注:典型的产量是30和60毫升swarmer细胞培养，从非同步的细胞1L之间。 </li><li>开始服用的时间点（野生型文化将需要大约135-140分钟分）8,9。在每个时间点，测量OD 600。检查分割后的OD 600大约是2倍的初始OD 600。 </li><li>对于免疫印迹或基因表达分析，除去铜1毫升等分lture在所需的时间点，在台式离心机降速在最大速度为30秒，迅速倒出或者吸出培养基，并快速冷冻在液氮中的细胞沉淀。存储单元在-80°C，直到下游分析。 </li></ol> 2.小​​规模的同步性 - 最佳显微镜<ol><li>从冰柜股票或板块，成长5ml的O / N培养摇晃在28℃，M2G。 </li><li>稀释在15毫升M2G的（表1-2）和生长，直到数中期（OD 600 = 0.5-0.6）。 </li><li>旋在6.4 KXG为10分钟，在4℃下，在JA-20转子，和重悬在1ml冷的M2（表1-2），并转移到2ml微量离心管中。 </li><li>旋转15 KXG在离心管沉淀细胞，吸出上清液3分钟，放小球上的冰和重悬在900微升冷M2的。 </li><li>添加900微升冷的PVP在15 KXG涂覆的胶体二氧化硅和自旋20分钟，在4℃下在麦克风rocentrifuge管。 </li><li> （严重）吸或吸管从顶部大步/ predivisional细胞乐队和收集swarmer波段底部到一个新的离心管。 </li><li>在1ml冷的M2在15 KXG而离心3分钟洗swarmer细胞两次。 </li><li>在最后的旋转前，将细胞注入一预冷1毫升玻璃试管并测量细胞的OD 600相比M2的空白。 </li><li>重悬最终的细胞沉淀到28°C M2G 0.3之间的OD - 0.4摇/滚细胞在28°C。 注意:典型的产率是毫升swarmer细胞培养物2和4之间。 </li><li>显微镜的实验，在所希望的时间点处1微升的细胞到一个M2G琼脂糖垫用于成像。 </li></ol>

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Bacteriol. 192, 3678-3688 (2010).</li><li>Ely, B. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Genetics+of+Caulobacter+crescentus.">Genetics of Caulobacter crescentus.</a> Methods Enzymol. 204, 372-384 (1991).</li><li>Williams, B., Bhat, N., Chien, P., Shapiro, L. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=ClpXP+and+ClpAP+proteolytic+activity+on+divisome+substrates+is+differentially+regulated+following+the+Caulobacter+asymmetric+cell+division.">ClpXP and ClpAP proteolytic activity on divisome substrates is differentially regulated following the Caulobacter asymmetric cell division.</a> Mol. Microbiol. 93, 853-866 (2014).</li><li>Quon, K. C., Yang, B., Domian, I. J., Shapiro, L., Marczynski, G. 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The authors have nothing to disclose.

The bacterial cell cycle is a fundamental process in life and is important for the study of growth and as a target for next generation antibiotics. Here, we detailed the rapid synchronization procedures for C. crescentus NA1000, a model organism for the study of the bacterial cell cycle and asymmetric cell division. This method is amendable to western blot, gene expression profiling, and fluorescence microscopy assays to investigate the spatiotemporal regulation of the bacterial cell cycle. 
<p class='jove_...

细菌细胞周期控制的基因组中的两个复制和子细胞的分裂。重要的是，抗生素耐药性是一个日益严重的威胁到公众健康，细菌细胞周期呈现抗生素发展的尚未开发的目标。 在细菌柄杆菌新月 ，每个细胞周期导致一个不对称分裂，产生不同的命运（ 图1A）1,2的两个子细胞。一个子细胞继承了鞭毛是能动的，而另一个女儿继承柄和无柄是。一个集成的基因电路控制细胞周期进程和细胞命运的转录调控，磷酸化信号，和监管蛋白水解3。此外，染色体复制和并发分流率的子细胞包含4号染色体只有一个拷贝。重要的是，这两种类型的细胞可迅速地通过胶体分离在可同步NA1000菌株5-7允许swarmer细胞从具有高产率（ 图1B）的人口的其余部分隔离IDAL二氧化硅粒子密度离心。隔离swarmer细胞，然后通过不对称细胞分裂进行同步。在这里，我们详细介绍了协议用 ​​于同步柄杆菌菌株NA1000。我们提供的协议，并为大规模和小规模的同步常见故障排除技巧。这个实验的过程提供了一个功能强大的工具来询问柄杆菌细胞周期和细胞命运的时空控制。

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="573">
	<tbody>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">Name of Material/ Equipment</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Company</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">Catalog Number</td>
			<td style="width:167px;">Comments/Description</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">PVP Coated Colloidal Silica (Percoll)</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">P4937</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">Colloidal Silica (Ludox AS-40)</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">420840</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">JA10 Rotor</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Beckman-Coulter</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">369687</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">JA20 Rotor</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Beckman-Coulter</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">334831</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">Ferrous Sulfate Chelate Solution</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>F0518</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">30 mL Centrifuge Tubes</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Corning</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">8445</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="25">
			<td height="25" style="height:25px;width:216px;">Na2HPO4</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">EMD</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">SX0720-1</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="25">
			<td height="25" style="height:25px;width:216px;">KH2PO4</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">VWR</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">BDH9268-500G</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="25">
			<td height="25" style="height:25px;width:216px;">NH4Cl</td>
			<td style="width:71px;">Amresco</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">0621-500g</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

synchronization of caulobacter crescentus for investigation of the bacterial cell cycle

The cell cycle is important for growth, genome replication, and development in all cells. In bacteria, studies of the cell cycle have focused largely on unsynchronized cells making it difficult to order the temporal events required for cell cycle progression, genome replication, and division. Caulobacter crescentus provides an excellent model system for the bacterial cell cycle whereby cells can be rapidly synchronized in a G0 state by density centrifugation. Cell cycle synchronization experiments have been used to establish the molecular events governing chromosome replication and segregation, to map a genetic regulatory network controlling cell cycle progression, and to identify the establishment of polar signaling complexes required for asymmetric cell division. Here we provide a detailed protocol for the rapid synchronization of Caulobacter NA1000 cells. Synchronization can be performed in a large-scale format for gene expression profiling and western blot assays, as well as a small-scale format for microscopy or FACS assays. The rapid synchronizability and high cell yields of Caulobacter make this organism a powerful model system for studies of the bacterial cell cycle.

同步通常产生细胞的两条带（ 图1B）:对swarmer带，它具有较高的密度和较低的密度的一个柄/ predivisional细胞带。为了确保高效的同步常见的控制包括监测OD 600和测量CTRA蛋白水平通过免疫印迹在不同的细胞周期的时间点。的OD 600应在细胞周期的过程中（ 图2）中约2倍的增加。在免疫印迹的细胞周期主控调节CTRA是一个有用的控制，以验证一个好的同步（ <stron...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Synchronization of Caulobacter Crescentus for Investigation of the Bacterial Cell Cycle at JoVE.com

Synchronization of Caulobacter Crescentus for Investigation of the Bacterial Cell Cycle

Synchronization of bacterial cells is essential for studies of the bacterial cell cycle and development. Caulobacter crescentus is synchronizable through density centrifugation allowing a rapid and powerful tool for studies of the bacterial cell cycle. Here we provide a detailed protocol for the synchronization of Caulobacter cells.

同步<em&gt;新月柄杆菌</em&gt;对细菌细胞周期的研究

The cell cycle is important for growth, genome replication, and development in all cells.  In bacteria, studies of the cell cycle have focused largely on ...

synchronization-caulobacter-crescentus-for-investigation-bacterial

Research

JoVE Journal

Biology

Synchronization of Caulobacter Crescentus for Investigation of the Bacterial Cell Cycle

11.8K 次观看.  Stanford University School of Medicine. Synchronization of bacterial cells is essential for studies of the bacterial cell cycle and development. Caulobacter crescentus is synchronizable through density centrifugation allowing a rapid and powerful tool for studies of the bacterial cell cycle. Here we provide a detailed protocol for the synchronization of Caulobacter cells.

视频: Synchronization of Caulobacter Crescentus for Investigation of the Bacterial Cell Cycle

Electroporation of Mycobacteria

High efficiency transformation is a major limitation in the study of mycobacteria. The genus Mycobacterium can be difficult to transform; this is mainly caused by the thick and waxy cell wall, but is compounded by the fact that most molecular techniques have been developed for distantly-related species such as Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis. In spite of these obstacles, mycobacterial plasmids have been identified and DNA transformation of many mycobacterial species have now been described. The most successful method for introducing DNA into mycobacteria is electroporation. Many parameters contribute to successful transformation; these include the species/strain, the nature of the transforming DNA, the selectable marker used, the growth medium, and the  conditions for the electroporation pulse. Optimized methods for the transformation of both slow- and fast-grower are detailed here. Transformation efficiencies for different mycobacterial species and with various selectable markers are reported.

Mycobacterial pathogenic strategies remain poorly understood. The slow growth rate of most species, the impenetrable nature of the cell-wall, and the hazards of working with pathogens make mycobacteria difficult to study and are largely responsible for our poor understanding of these organisms. In this video we will demonstrate the technique of electroporation, which involves subjecting cells to a brief high electrical impulse to allow the entry of DNA. It is the most widely used method for introducing DNA into mycobacterial cells.

电穿孔分枝杆菌

High efficiency transformation is a major limitation in the study of mycobacteria. The genus Mycobacterium can be difficult to transform; this is mainly ...

科研

生物学

Monitoring Kinase and Phosphatase Activities Through the Cell Cycle by Ratiometric FRET

F&ouml;rster resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based reporters1 allow the assessment of endogenous kinase and phosphatase activities in living cells. Such probes typically consist of variants of CFP and YFP, intervened by a phosphorylatable sequence and a phospho-binding domain. Upon phosphorylation, the probe changes conformation, which results in a change of the distance or orientation between CFP and YFP, leading to a change in FRET efficiency (Fig 1). Several probes have been published during the last decade, monitoring the activity balance of multiple kinases and phosphatases, including reporters of PKA2, PKB3, PKC4, PKD5, ERK6, JNK7, Cdk18, Aurora B9 and Plk19. Given the modular design, additional probes are likely to emerge in the near future10. 
Progression through the cell cycle is affected by stress signaling pathways 11. Notably, the cell cycle is regulated differently during unperturbed growth compared to when cells are recovering from stress12.Time-lapse imaging of cells through the cell cycle therefore requires particular caution. This becomes a problem particularly when employing ratiometric imaging, since two images with a high signal to noise ratio are required to correctly interpret the results. Ratiometric FRET imaging of cell cycle dependent changes in kinase and phosphatase activities has predominately been restricted to sub-sections of the cell cycle8,9,13,14.
Here, we discuss a method to monitor FRET-based probes using ratiometric imaging throughout the human cell cycle. The method relies on equipment that is available to many researchers in life sciences and does not require expert knowledge of microscopy or image processing.

FRET-based reporters are increasingly used to monitor kinase and phosphatase activities in live cells. Here we describe a method on how to use FRET-based reporters to assess cell cycle-dependent changes in target phosphorylation.

通过细胞周期激酶和磷酸酶活性成比例的FRET监测

F&ouml;rster resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based reporters1 allow the assessment of endogenous kinase and phosphatase activities in living cells. Such ...

Analysis of Cell Cycle Position in Mammalian Cells

The regulation of cell proliferation is central to tissue morphogenesis during the development of multicellular organisms. Furthermore, loss of control of cell proliferation underlies the pathology of diseases like cancer. As such there is great need to be able to investigate cell proliferation and quantitate the proportion of cells in each phase of the cell cycle. It is also of vital importance to indistinguishably identify cells that are replicating their DNA within a larger population. Since a cell&prime;s decision to proliferate is made in the G1 phase immediately before initiating DNA synthesis and progressing through the rest of the cell cycle, detection of DNA synthesis at this stage allows for an unambiguous determination of the status of growth regulation in cell culture experiments.
DNA content in cells can be readily quantitated by flow cytometry of cells stained with propidium iodide, a fluorescent DNA intercalating dye. Similarly, active DNA synthesis can be quantitated by culturing cells in the presence of radioactive thymidine, harvesting the cells, and measuring the incorporation of radioactivity into an acid insoluble fraction. We have considerable expertise with cell cycle analysis and recommend a different approach. We Investigate cell proliferation using bromodeoxyuridine/fluorodeoxyuridine (abbreviated simply as BrdU) staining that detects the incorporation of these thymine analogs into recently synthesized DNA. Labeling and staining cells with BrdU, combined with total DNA staining by propidium iodide and analysis by flow cytometry1 offers the most accurate measure of cells in the various stages of the cell cycle. It is our preferred method because it combines the detection of active DNA synthesis, through antibody based staining of BrdU, with total DNA content from propidium iodide. This allows for the clear separation of cells in G1 from early S phase, or late S phase from G2/M. Furthermore, this approach can be utilized to investigate the effects of many different cell stimuli and pharmacologic agents on the regulation of progression through these different cell cycle phases.
In this report we describe methods for labeling and staining cultured cells, as well as their analysis by flow cytometry. We also include experimental examples of how this method can be used to measure the effects of growth inhibiting signals from cytokines such as TGF-&beta;1, and proliferative inhibitors such as the cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor, p27KIP1. We also include an alternate protocol that allows for the analysis of cell cycle position in a sub-population of cells within a larger culture5. In this case, we demonstrate how to detect a cell cycle arrest in cells transfected with the retinoblastoma gene even when greatly outnumbered by untransfected cells in the same culture. These examples illustrate the many ways that DNA staining and flow cytometry can be utilized and adapted to investigate fundamental questions of mammalian cell cycle control.

Determining the cell cycle position of a population of cells, or understanding how signals affect proliferation, can be readily measured by flow cytometry using this protocol. We report a simple experimental approach to staining cells and quantifying their position in the cell cycle.

在哺乳动物细胞中细胞周期位置分析

The regulation of cell proliferation is central to tissue morphogenesis during the development of multicellular organisms. Furthermore, loss of control of ...

The ex vivo Isolated Skeletal Microvessel Preparation for Investigation of Vascular Reactivity

The isolated microvessel preparation is an ex vivo preparation that allows for examination of the different contributions of factors that control vessel diameter, and thus, perfusion resistance1-5. This is a classic experimental preparation that was, in large measure, initially described by Uchida et al.15 several decades ago. This initial description provided the basis for the techniques that was extensively modified and enhanced, primarily in the laboratory of Dr. Brian Duling at the University of Virginia6-8, and we present a current approach in the following pages. This preparation will specifically refer to the gracilis arteriole in a rat as the microvessel of choice, but the basic preparation can readily be applied to vessels isolated from nearly any other tissue or organ across species9-13. Mechanical (i.e., dimensional) changes in the isolated microvessels can easily be evaluated in response to a broad array of physiological (e.g., hypoxia, intravascular pressure, or shear) or pharmacological challenges, and can provide insight into mechanistic elements comprising integrated responses in an intact, although ex vivo, tissue. The significance of this method is that it allows for facile manipulation of the influences on the integrated regulation of microvessel diameter, while also allowing for the control of many of the contributions from other sources, including intravascular pressure (myogenic), autonomic innervation, hemodynamic (e.g., shear stress), endothelial dependent or independent stimuli, hormonal, and parenchymal influences, to provide a partial list. Under appropriate experimental conditions and with appropriate goals, this can serve as an advantage over in vivo or in situ tissue/organ preparations, which do not readily allow for the facile control of broader systemic variables. 
The major limitation of this preparation is essentially the consequence of its strengths. By definition, the behavior of these vessels is being studied under conditions where many of the most significant contributors to the regulation of vascular resistance have been removed, including neural, humoral, metabolic, etc. As such, the investigator is cautioned to avoid over-interpretation and extrapolation of the data that are collected utilizing this preparation. The other significant area of concern with regard to this preparation is that it can be very easy to damage cellular components such as the endothelial lining or the vascular smooth muscle, such that variable source of error can be introduced. It is strongly recommended that the individual investigator utilize appropriate measurements to ensure the quality of the preparation, both at the initiation of the experiment and periodically throughout the course of a protocol.

The ex vivo Isolated Skeletal Microvessel Preparation for Investigation of Vascular Reactivity

An ex vivo preparation is described for isolation of the largest gracilis muscle resistance arterioles for interrogation of both vascular responses to vasoactive stimuli and the assessment of basic structural properties via passive wall mechanics.

"体外骨骼肌微血管制备离体血管反应性的调查

The isolated  microvessel preparation is an ex vivo preparation that allows for examination of the different contributions of  factors that control vessel ...

Basic Caenorhabditis elegans Methods: Synchronization and Observation

Research into the molecular and developmental biology of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans was begun in the early seventies by Sydney Brenner and it has since been used extensively as a model organism 1. C. elegans possesses key attributes such as simplicity, transparency and short life cycle that have made it a suitable experimental system for fundamental biological studies for many years 2. Discoveries in this nematode have broad implications because many cellular and molecular processes that control animal development are evolutionary conserved 3.
C. elegans life cycle goes through an embryonic stage and four larval stages before animals reach adulthood. Development can take 2 to 4 days depending on the temperature. In each of the stages several characteristic traits can be observed. The knowledge of its complete cell lineage 4,5 together with the deep annotation of its genome turn this nematode into a great model in fields as diverse as the neurobiology 6, aging 7,8, stem cell biology 9 and germ line biology 10. 
An additional feature that makes C. elegans an attractive model to work with is the possibility of obtaining populations of worms synchronized at a specific stage through a relatively easy protocol. The ease of maintaining and propagating this nematode added to the possibility of synchronization provide a powerful tool to obtain large amounts of worms, which can be used for a wide variety of small or high-throughput experiments such as RNAi screens, microarrays, massive sequencing, immunoblot or in situ hybridization, among others. 
Because of its transparency, C. elegans structures can be distinguished under the microscope using Differential Interference Contrast microscopy, also known as Nomarski microscopy. The use of a fluorescent DNA binder, DAPI (4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole), for instance, can lead to the specific identification and localization of individual cells, as well as subcellular structures/defects associated to them.

Basic Caenorhabditis elegans Methods: Synchronization and Observation

The easiness of maintaining and propagating the nematode C. elegans make it a nice model organism to work with. The possibility of synchronizing worms allows the work with a significant amount of subjects at the same developmental stage, what facilitates the study of one particular process in many animals.

基本的<em&gt;线虫</em&gt;方法:同步和观察

Research into the molecular and developmental biology of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans was begun in the early seventies by Sydney Brenner and it has ...

Temporal Tracking of Cell Cycle Progression Using Flow Cytometry without the Need for Synchronization

This protocol describes a method to permit the tracking of cells through the cell cycle without requiring the cells to be synchronized. Achieving cell synchronization can be difficult for many cell systems. Standard practice is to block cell cycle progression at a specific stage and then release the accumulated cells producing a wave of cells progressing through the cycle in unison. However, some cell types find this block toxic resulting in abnormal cell cycling, or even mass death. Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) uptake can be used to track the cell cycle stage of individual cells. Cells incorporate this synthetic thymidine analog, while synthesizing new DNA during S phase. By providing BrdU for a brief period it is possible to mark a pool of cells that were in S phase while the BrdU was present. These cells can then be tracked through the remainder of the cell cycle and into the next round of replication, permitting the duration of the cell cycle phases to be determined without the need to induce a potentially toxic cell cycle block. It is also possible to determine and correlate the expression of both internal and external proteins during subsequent stages of the cell cycle. These can be used to further refine the assignment of cell cycle stage or assess effects on other cellular functions such as checkpoint activation or cell death.

This protocol describes the use of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) uptake to permit the temporal tracking of cells that were in S phase at a specific point in time. Addition of DNA dyes and antibody labeling facilitates detailed analysis of the fate of the S phase cells at later times.

细胞周期进程的时间跟踪使用流式细胞仪，无需同步

This protocol describes a method to permit the tracking of cells through the cell cycle without requiring the cells to be synchronized. Achieving cell ...

Contractility Measurements on Isolated Papillary Muscles for the Investigation of Cardiac Inotropy in Mice

Papillary muscle isolated from adult mouse hearts can be used to study cardiac contractility during different physiological/pathological conditions. The contractile characteristics can be evaluated independently of external influences such as vascular tonus or neurohumoral status. It depicts a scientific approach between single cell measurements with isolated cardiac myocytes and in vivo studies like echocardiography. Thus, papillary muscle preparations serve as an excellent model to study cardiac physiology/pathophysiology and can be used for investigations like the modulation by pharmacological agents or the exploration of transgenic animal models. Here, we describe a method of isolating the murine left anterior papillary muscle to investigate cardiac contractility in an organ bath setup. In contrast to a muscle strip preparation isolated from the ventricular wall, the papillary muscle can be prepared in toto without damaging the muscle tissue severely. The organ bath setup consists of several temperature-controlled, gassed and electrode-equipped organ bath chambers. The isolated papillary muscle is fixed in the organ bath chamber and electrically stimulated. The evoked twitch force is recorded using a pressure transducer and parameters such as twitch force amplitude and twitch kinetics are analyzed. Different experimental protocols can be performed to investigate the calcium- and frequency-dependent contractility as well as dose-response curves of contractile agents such as catecholamines or other pharmaceuticals. Additionally, pathologic conditions like acute ischemia can be simulated.

Murine left ventricular papillary muscle can be used to investigate cardiac contractility in vitro. This article describes in detail the isolation and experimental protocols to study cardiac contractile characteristics.

对离体乳头肌的心脏收缩力对小鼠的研究收缩尺寸

Papillary muscle isolated from adult mouse hearts can be used to study cardiac contractility during different physiological/pathological conditions. The ...

Efficient Mammalian Cell Expression and Single-step Purification of Extracellular Glycoproteins for Crystallization

Production of secreted mammalian proteins for structural and biophysical studies can be challenging, time intensive, and costly. Here described is a time and cost efficient protocol for secreted protein expression in mammalian cells and one step purification using nickel affinity chromatography. The system is based on large scale transient transfection of mammalian cells in suspension, which greatly decreases the time to produce protein, as it eliminates steps, such as developing expression viruses or generating stable expressing cell lines. This protocol utilizes cheap transfection agents, which can be easily made by simple chemical modification, or moderately priced transfection agents, which increase yield through increased transfection efficiency and decreased cytotoxicity. Careful monitoring and maintaining of media glucose levels increases protein yield. Controlling the maturation of native glycans at the expression step increases the final yield of properly folded and functional mammalian proteins, which are ideal properties to pursue X-ray crystallography. In some cases, single step purification produces protein of sufficient purity for crystallization, which is demonstrated here as an example case.

This is a quick, cost-efficient protocol for the production of secreted, glycosylated mammalian proteins and subsequent single-step purification with sufficient yields of homogenous protein for X-ray crystallography and other biophysical studies.

高效的哺乳动物细胞表达和细胞外糖蛋白的结晶一步纯化

Production of secreted mammalian proteins for structural and biophysical studies can be challenging, time intensive, and costly. Here described is a time ...

Measurement of Survival Time in Brachionus Rotifers: Synchronization of Maternal Conditions

Rotifers are microscopic cosmopolitan zooplankton used as models in ecotoxicological and aging studies due to their several advantages such as short lifespan, ease of culture, and parthenogenesis that enables clonal culture. However, caution is required when measuring their survival time as it is affected by maternal age and maternal feeding conditions. Here we provide a protocol for powerful and reproducible measurement of the survival time in Brachionus rotifers following a careful synchronization of culture conditions over several generations. Empirically, poor synchronization results in early mortality and a gradual decrease in survival rate, thus resulting in weak statistical power. Indeed, under such conditions, calorie restriction (CR) failed to significantly extend the lifespan of B. plicatilis although CR-induced longevity has been demonstrated with well-synchronized rotifer samples in past and present studies. This protocol is probably useful for other invertebrate models, including the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster and the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, because maternal age effects have also been reported in these species.

Measurement of Survival Time in Brachionus Rotifers: Synchronization of Maternal Conditions

Rotifers are microscopic zooplankton used as models in ecotoxicological and aging studies. Here we provide a protocol for powerful and reproducible measurement of survival time in Brachionus rotifers. Synchronization of culture conditions over several generations is of particular importance because maternal condition affects life history of offspring.

生存时间的测量<em&gt;臂</em&gt;轮虫:产妇条件同步

Rotifers are microscopic cosmopolitan zooplankton used as models in ecotoxicological and aging studies due to their several advantages such as short ...

Combining Mitotic Cell Synchronization and High Resolution Confocal Microscopy to Study the Role of Multifunctional Cell Cycle Proteins During Mitosis

Study of the various regulatory events of the cell cycle in a phase-dependent manner provides a clear understanding about cell growth and division. The synchronization of cell populations at specific stages of the cell cycle has been found to be very useful in such experimental endeavors. Synchronization of cells by treatment with chemicals that are relatively less toxic can be advantageous over the use of pharmacological inhibitory drugs for the study of consequent cell cycle events and to obtain specific enrichment of selected mitotic stages. Here, we describe the protocol for synchronizing human cells at different stages of the cell cycle, including both in S phase and M phase with a double thymidine block and release procedure for studying the functionality of mitotic proteins in chromosome alignment and segregation. This protocol has been extremely useful for studying the mitotic roles of multifunctional proteins which possess established interphase functions. In our case, the mitotic role of Cdt1, a protein critical for replication origin licensing in G1 phase, can be studied effectively only when G2/M-specific Cdt1 can be depleted. We describe the detailed protocol for depletion of G2/M-specific Cdt1 using double thymidine synchronization. We also explain the protocol of cell fixation, and live cell imaging using high resolution confocal microscopy after thymidine release. The method is also useful for analyzing the function of mitotic proteins under both physiological and perturbed conditions such as for Hec1, a component of the Ndc80 complex, as it enables one to obtain large sample sizes of mitotic cells for fixed and live cell analysis as we show here.&#160;&#160;

We present a protocol for double thymidine synchronization of HeLa cells followed by analysis using high resolution confocal microscopy. This method is key to obtaining large number of cells that proceed synchronously from S phase to mitosis, enabling studies on mitotic roles of multifunctional proteins which also possess interphase functions.

有丝分裂细胞同步与高分辨共聚焦显微镜联合应用研究细胞周期蛋白在有丝分裂过程中的作用

Study of the various regulatory events of the cell cycle in a phase-dependent manner provides a clear understanding about cell growth and division. The ...