Name: a filtration-based method of preparing high-quality nuclei from cross-linked skeletal muscle for chromatin immunoprecipitation
Uploaded: 2017-07-06T15:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about A Filtration-based Method of Preparing High-quality Nuclei from Cross-linked Skeletal Muscle for Chromatin Immunoprecipitation at JoVE.com

We thank Karyn Esser, Nobuya Koike and Noheon Park for helpful advice. This work was in part supported by NIH/NIGMS (R01GM114424) to S.-H.Y., and the Robert A. Welch Foundation (AU-1731) and NIH/NIA (R01AG045828) to Z.C.

Animal care was performed under Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) guidelines, and the procedures were conducted according to an animal protocol approved by the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
1. Nuclei Isolation from Cross-linked Skeletal Muscle
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	<li>Weigh and mince hind limb skeletal muscle, isolated from approximately 20-week old C57BL/6 male mice, in ice-cold phosphate buffered saline (PBS) as described in detail previously22<...

<ol>
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Here we describe a robust method where cross-linked skeletal muscle tissues were used to isolate high-quality nuclei. Sequential filtration was carried out to effectively separate nuclei from debris, and ultrasonic acoustic energy from dish-shaped transducer sheared the chromatin for ChIP analysis. The results showed circadian time-specific binding of BMAL1 to target promoters.
ChIP can be employed to capture real-time protein occupancy on genomic DNA when cross-linking takes place. To take ad...

Skeletal muscle plays important roles in physiology and behavior. The multi-nucleated muscle fiber consists of myofibrils where actin and myosin form functional units called sarcomeres to generate contractile force. Skeletal muscle is also the largest metabolic organ in the body, accounting for &#62;80% postprandial glucose intake and regulating insulin response and metabolic homeostasis1,2. Muscle physiology and metabolism are closely regulated by the circadian clock, an intrinsic biological timer3,4,5,6. For example, the skeletal muscle-specific deletion of Bmal1, one of the core circadian clock components, resulted in insulin resistance and diminished glucose uptake in skeletal muscle, and the animals were found to develop type 2 diabetes7. In addition, skeletal muscle is also increasingly being appreciated as an endocrine organ8, secreting myokines to regulate systemic metabolism and physiology. Mechanistic studies are required to fully understand these regulatory functions in skeletal muscle.
ChIP is a powerful approach to delineate promoter recruitment of DNA binding proteins. ChIP was initially developed to identify nucleosome organization on chromatin DNA9,10. A variety of methods have since been reported to cross-link proteins and chromatin DNA using formaldehyde, dimethyl sulfate or ultraviolet irradiation (UV)11,12. Formaldehyde cross-linking is the most commonly used, preserving chromatin structure and DNA-protein interactions9,13,14. Cross-linked chromatin is shredded by sonication and immunoprecipitated with antibody against the particular DNA binding protein of interest15,16. In recent years, ChIP-sequencing (ChIP-seq), a method combining ChIP with NGS, has been developed to interrogate genome-wide transcription factor binding17, and in some cases to monitor dynamic changes over a time course18,19,20. For example, circadian ChIP-seq studies have revealed a highly orchestrated sequence of genomic binding of circadian clock components and histone markers, which drives temporally precise gene expression throughout the ~ 24 h circadian cycle18.
Most available ChIP protocols are designed for soft tissues (e.g. liver, brain, etc.), and very few have been published for hard tissues including skeletal muscle. It is technically challenging to homogenize fiber-rich skeletal muscle and isolate high-quality nuclei21, especially for ChIP experiments which require cross-linking. In a recent muscle ChIP study22, satellite cells were separated from myofibers, and nuclei were prepared from both cell types through a prolonged procedure involving tissue digestion. The entire process took approximately three hours to complete before formaldehyde cross-linking was performed on isolated nuclei. While this procedure avoided cross-linking muscle fiber, which makes muscle tissue even more refractory to efficient homogenization, and was able to produce high-quality nuclei, the significant time-lag from tissue collection to nuclei cross-linking incurs the risk of altered DNA-protein interaction. In contrast, most studies performed cross-linking immediately after experimental treatment or tissue collection in order to preserve the real-time DNA-protein binding12. A second drawback of nuclei isolation before cross-linking is that it precludes time-sensitive applications such as circadian sample collection which typically occurs at 3 - 4 h intervals. Without cross-linking the nuclei, the isolation needs to proceed immediately after dissection, whereas cross-linked samples can be processed together after the entire time course is completed, thus ensuring greater experimental consistency.
Other protocols for nuclei isolation from uncrosslinked skeletal muscle have also been reported. Two studies described the use of gradient ultracentrifugation to separate nuclei from remaining myofibrils and cell debris23,24. While sucrose or colloidal gradient ultracentrifugation is effective with uncrosslinked muscle tissues, our experiments revealed that after crosslinking, gradient ultracentrifugation failed to separate nuclei from cell debris on the gradient.
We therefore developed a procedure to isolate high-quality nuclei using cross-linked mouse skeletal muscle tissues. Rather than gradient ultracentrifugation, we devised a serial filtration method to effectively separate nuclei from debris. Following ultrasonication, the chromatin samples were successfully applied for ChIP studies which showed a circadian pattern of BMAL1 protein binding to target promoters. Our method can be broadly applicable to various mechanistic studies of muscle tissues.

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			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:216px;">Materials</td>
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			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:216px;">Formaldehyde solution</td>
			<td style="width:143px;">Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">F8775&#160;</td>
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			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:216px;">Glycine</td>
			<td style="width:143px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">BP381-5</td>
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			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:216px;">Trypan Blue solution (0.4%)</td>
			<td style="width:143px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">15250061</td>
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			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:216px;">RNase A</td>
			<td style="width:143px;">Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">10109142001</td>
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			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:216px;">Protease K</td>
			<td style="width:143px;">Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">3115887001</td>
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			<td height="57" style="height:57px;width:216px;">Chicken Anti-BMAL1 antibody</td>
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			<td style="width:288px;">Generated in chicken (Cocalico Biologicals) against antigen aa 318-579, and IgY was affinity purified using the same antigen.&#160;</td>
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			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:216px;">Chicken IgY Precipitating Resin</td>
			<td style="width:143px;">GenScript</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">L00405</td>
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			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:216px;">Equipment</td>
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			<td height="38" style="height:38px;width:216px;">KINEMATICA&#160;Polytron PT2100 Benchtop Homogenizer</td>
			<td style="width:143px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">08-451-178</td>
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			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:216px;">15mL Dounce tissue grinder</td>
			<td style="width:143px;">Whearton</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">357544</td>
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			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:216px;">Falcon Cell Strainers 100&#181;m</td>
			<td style="width:143px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">08-771-19</td>
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			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:216px;">Falcon Cell Strainers 70&#181;m</td>
			<td style="width:143px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">08-771-1</td>
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			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:216px;">Falcon Cell Strainers 40&#181;m</td>
			<td style="width:143px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">08-771-2</td>
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			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:216px;">pluriStrainer 30 &#181;m</td>
			<td style="width:143px;">PluriSelect</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">43-50030-03</td>
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		<tr height="20">
			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:216px;">pluriStrainer 20 &#181;m</td>
			<td style="width:143px;">PluriSelect</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">43-50020-03</td>
			<td></td>
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			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:216px;">pluriStrainer 10 &#181;m</td>
			<td style="width:143px;">PluriSelect</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">43-50010-03</td>
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			<td height="38" style="height:38px;width:216px;">Covaris S2 Focused-ultrasonicator</td>
			<td style="width:143px;">Covaris</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">Model S2</td>
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			<td height="20" style="height:20px;">Labquake&#160;</td>
			<td>Thermo Scientific</td>
			<td>C415110</td>
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			<td height="20" style="height:20px;">CCD Microscope Camera</td>
			<td>&#160;Leica Microsystems</td>
			<td>DFC3000 G</td>
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			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:216px;"></td>
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			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:216px;">Reagent Kit</td>
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			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:216px;">DNA extraction kit</td>
			<td style="width:143px;">Thermo Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">K0691</td>
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			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:216px;"></td>
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			<td height="20" style="height:20px;width:216px;">Buffers</td>
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			<td height="76" style="height:76px;width:216px;">All buffer components are discribed in the protocol. Each component was purchased from Sigma Aldrich</td>
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a filtration-based method of preparing high-quality nuclei from cross-linked skeletal muscle for chromatin immunoprecipitation

Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is a powerful method to determine protein binding to chromatin DNA. Fiber-rich skeletal muscle, however, has been a challenge for ChIP due to technical difficulty in isolation of high-quality nuclei with minimal contamination of myofibrils. Previous protocols have attempted to purify nuclei before cross-linking, which incurs the risk of altered DNA-protein interaction during the prolonged nuclei preparation process. In the current protocol, we first cross-linked the skeletal muscle tissue collected from mice, and the tissues were minced and sonicated. Since we found that ultracentrifugation was not able to separate nuclei from myofibrils using cross-linked muscle tissue, we devised a sequential filtration procedure to obtain high-quality nuclei devoid of significant myofibril contamination. We subsequently prepared chromatin by using an ultrasonicator, and ChIP assays with anti-BMAL1 antibody revealed robust circadian binding pattern of BMAL1 to target gene promoters. This filtration protocol constitutes an easily applicable method to isolate high-quality nuclei from cross-linked skeletal muscle tissue, allowing consistent sample processing for circadian and other time-sensitive studies. In combination with next-generation sequencing (NGS), our method can be deployed for various mechanistic and genomic studies focusing on skeletal muscle function.

Here we performed formaldehyde cross-linking immediately after tissue collection to preserve real-time DNA-protein interaction. However, we found that sucrose or colloidal gradient, commonly used for nuclei isolation23,24, was not effective in separating nuclei from myofibrils (data not shown). The reason may be that cross-linking conferred similar gravity for nuclei and myofibrils. Therefore, we developed a serial filtration proc...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about A Filtration-based Method of Preparing High-quality Nuclei from Cross-linked Skeletal Muscle for Chromatin Immunoprecipitation at JoVE.com

A Filtration-based Method of Preparing High-quality Nuclei from Cross-linked Skeletal Muscle for Chromatin Immunoprecipitation

We present a filtration-based protocol to isolate high-quality nuclei from cross-linked mouse skeletal muscle wherein we removed the need for ultracentrifugation, making it easily applicable. We show that chromatin prepared from the nuclei is suitable for chromatin immunoprecipitation and likely chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing studies.

Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is a powerful method to determine protein binding to chromatin DNA. Fiber-rich skeletal muscle, however, has been a ...

The overall goal of this experimental procedure is to allow preparation of high-quality nuclei from cross-linked skeletal muscle which can then be used for chromatin immunoprecipitation studies. This method can help answer key questions in muscle and circadian field such as genomic studies using muscle tissues and cells in circadian or other time-sensitive context. The main advantage of this technique is that it allow immediate cross-linking of samples and the filtration-based procedure can be reliably conducted to isolate high-quality nuclei with minimal myofibril contamination.Although this method can provide insight into skeletal muscle, it can also be applied to other systems such as cardiac and smooth muscles. Weigh and mince hind limb skeletal muscle isolated from approximately 20-week-old C57 black six male mice in ice cold phosphate-buffered saline as described previously. Place the minced skeletal muscle tissue in a 50 milliliter conical tube containing 10 milliliters of PBS on ice.Then centrifuge the sample at 300 times g at four degrees Celsius for five minutes. Carefully remove the PBS supernatant by aspiration. Estimate the pellet volume in each 50 milliliter tube by using reference tubes with one, two, three, and four milliliters of water.Add seven volumes of ice cold 1%formaldehyde and PBS and homogenize the samples on ice using a probe tissue homogenizer. Next, cross-link the sample by incubating it at room temperature for 10 minutes. Quench the cross-linking reaction through the addition of one molar glycine to a final concentration of 0.125 molar followed by incubation for five minutes at room temperature.After centrifuging the sample at 3, 000 times g for five minutes at four degrees Celsius, remove the supernatant via aspiration. Rinse the pellet by resuspending it in 10 milliliters of ice cold base buffer containing freshly added protease inhibitors. Centrifuge the sample again and carefully remove the supernatant by aspiration.Then resuspend the pellet in six milliliters of lysis buffer containing freshly added protease inhibitors. Transfer the sample to a pre-chilled 15 milliliter Dounce homogenizer and incubate for 10 minutes on ice. Dounce homogenize each sample on ice with 15 slow strokes using a loose pestle followed by 15 strokes with a tight pestle to release the nuclei.The following filtration steps are the key to isolation of high-quality nuclei. Filter the homogenate through a cell strainer and rinse with four milliliters of lysis buffer. Then centrifuge the samples at 1, 000 times g for 10 minutes at four degrees Celsius.Resuspend the pellet in five milliliters of ice cold base buffer and Dounce 10 times with a tight pestle to release the nuclei. Then filter the suspension through a cell strainer and rinse the tube with two milliliters of base buffer and filter again. Repeat the filtration with cell strainers of gradually reduced pore size.Finally, centrifuge at 1, 000 times g at four degrees Celsius for 10 minutes. Remove the supernatant and resuspend the pellet in 500 microliters of base buffer before centrifuging again. Discard the supernatant and store the pellet at minus 80 degrees Celsius.Thaw the samples in 500 microliters of SDS lysis buffer and resuspend with gentle pipetting. Transfer the nuclei DNA suspension to a glass vial on ice. Choosing the right sonication platform and condition is critical for chromatin preparation from isolated nuclei.Run the sonication with focused bursts of ultrasonic acoustic energy from a disc-shaped transducer using the settings outlined in the text protocol. Transfer the sonicated chromatin to a 1.5 milliliter tube. Then centrifuge at 12, 000 times g for 15 minutes and transfer the supernatant to a new tube.Next, transfer 50 microliters of the sonicated sample into a new 1.5 milliliter tube for reverse cross-linking overnight at 65 degrees Celsius. Harvesting of the DNA samples is described in the following section. Following evaluation of sonication and quantitation as described in the text protocol, aliquot the thawed chromatin to approximately 100 to 120 micrograms per tube.Then dilute the chromatin one to 10 with immunoprecipitation buffer. Next, add 40 microliters of a 50%slurry of BSA pre-blocked protein HE agarose or IgY beads and incubate on a rotator for three hours at four degrees Celsius. After centrifuging the sample at 1, 000 times g for 10 minutes, carefully transfer the supernatant to new tubes.Then add antibodies at one microgram of antibody per 25 to 100 micrograms of chromatin DNA. Rotate gently overnight at four degrees Celsius and approximately 15 rpm. Then add 10 microliters of BSA pre-blocked protein HE agarose or IgY beads and mix.Rotate the bead suspension in the cold room for two hours. Next, wash the beads with RIPA buffer followed by high salt buffer, lithium chloride buffer, and Tris EDTA as detailed in the text protocol. Following washing, elute the DNA from the beads by first centrifuging at 1, 000 times g for one minute and carefully removing the supernatant.Resuspend the beads with 50 microliters of elution buffer. Then incubate for 10 minutes at 65 degrees Celsius. Following incubation, centrifuge at 12, 000 times g for five minutes.Remove the supernatant and add another 50 microliters of elution buffer before centrifuging once again at 12, 000 times g for five minutes. The final elution volume will be 100 microliters. To reverse cross-link and perform DNA elution, first incubate the eluted chromatin overnight at 65 degrees Celsius.Then add one microliter of RNase A before incubating for 30 minutes at 37 degrees Celsius. Subsequently, incubate with eight microliters of 10 milligrams per milliliter protease K for 30 minutes at 55 degrees Celsius. Harvest the DNA by using a PCR cleanup kit with an elution volume of 50 microliters according to the manufacturer's protocol.Finally, analyze the profiles by real-time QPCR as previously described. Sequential filtration effectively removed tissue debris. Representative images of samples after the initial filtration and after serial filtration are shown here for comparison.Progressive chromatin shredding through 10 cycles of sonication is revealed through running an agarose gel. 10 cycles of sonication with the digested chromatin resulted in DNA of approximately 500 base pairs. Here, representative QPCR results for B males one chIP with mouse skeletal muscle samples collected at ZT6 and ZT18 are shown.Analysis of the Dbp locations elements on the Dbp gene revealed that consistent with previous results binding peaks at around ZT6. Once mastered, preparation of nuclei can be done in five to six hours if it's performed properly. After watching this video, you should have a good understanding of how to use the filtration-based methods to purify high-quality nuclei and chromatin DNA from cross-linked muscle tissue.While attempting this procedure, it's important to remember to maintain samples on ice or in a cold room and save sample aliquots for microscopic checking before and after the filtration steps. After its development, this technique paved the way for the researchers in the field of muscle and genomics to explore circadian or time-sensitive dynamics of chromatin-protein interaction in various muscle tissues. Following this procedure, other methods like chIP sequencing can be performed in order to answer additional questions like look for patterns of transcription factor binding in muscle tissues.

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Research

JoVE Journal

Biochemistry

A Facile and Efficient Approach for the Production of Reversible Disulfide Cross-linked Micelles

Nanomedicine is an emerging form of therapy that harnesses the unique properties of particles that are nanometers in scale for biomedical application. Improving drug delivery to maximize therapeutic outcomes and to reduce drug-associated side effects are some of the cornerstones of present-day nanomedicine. Nanoparticles in particular have found a wide application in cancer treatment. Nanoparticles that offer a high degree of flexibility in design, application, and production based on the tumor microenvironment are projected to be more effective with rapid translation into clinical practice. The polymeric micellar nano-carrier is a popular choice for drug delivery applications.
In this article, we describe a simple and effective protocol for synthesizing drug-loaded, disulfide cross-linked micelles based on the self-assembly of a well-defined amphiphilic linear-dendritic copolymer (telodendrimer, TD). TD is composed of polyethylene glycol (PEG) as the hydrophilic segment and a thiolated cholic acid cluster as the core-forming hydrophobic moiety attached stepwise to an amine-terminated PEG using solution-based peptide chemistry. Chemotherapy drugs, such as paclitaxel (PTX), can be loaded using a standard solvent evaporation method. The O2-mediated oxidation was previously utilized to form intra-micellar disulfide cross-links from free thiol groups on the TDs. However, the reaction was slow and not feasible for large-scale production. Recently, an H2O2-mediated oxidation method was explored as a more feasible and efficient approach, and it was 96 times faster than the previously reported method. Using this approach, 50 g of PTX-loaded, disulfide cross-linked nanoparticles have been successfully produced with narrow particle size distribution and high drug loading efficiency. The stability of the resulting micelle solution is analyzed using disrupting conditions such as co-incubation with a detergent, sodium dodecyl sulfate, with or without a reducing agent. The drug-loaded, disulfide cross-linked micelles demonstrated less hemolytic activity when compared to their non-cross-linked counterparts.

To deliver cancer drugs to tumor sites with high specificity and reduced side effects, new methods based on nanoparticles are required. Here, we describe disulfide cross-linked micelles that can be easily prepared by hydrogen peroxide-mediated oxidation and are able to dissociate efficiently under a reducing tumor environment to release payloads.

Nanomedicine is an emerging form of therapy that harnesses the unique properties of particles that are nanometers in scale for biomedical application. ...

A Simple Fractionated Extraction Method for the Comprehensive Analysis of Metabolites, Lipids, and Proteins from a Single Sample

Understanding of complex biological systems requires the measurement, analysis and integration of multiple compound classes of the living cell, usually determined by transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomics and lipidomic measurements. In this protocol, we introduce a simple method for the reproducible extraction of metabolites, lipids and proteins from biological tissues using a single aliquot per sample. The extraction method is based on a methyl tert-butyl ether: methanol: water system for liquid: liquid partitioning of hydrophobic and polar metabolites into two immiscible phases along with the precipitation of proteins and other macromolecules as a solid pellet. This method, therefore, provides three different fractions of specific molecular composition, which are fully compatible with common high throughput 'omics' technologies such as liquid chromatography (LC) or gas chromatography (GC) coupled to mass spectrometers. Even though the method was initially developed for the analysis of different plant tissue samples, it has proved to be fully compatible for the extraction and analysis of biological samples from systems as diverse as algae, insects, and mammalian tissues and cell cultures.

A protocol for comprehensive extraction of lipids, metabolites and proteins from biological tissues using one sample is presented.

Understanding of complex biological systems requires the measurement, analysis and integration of multiple compound classes of the living cell, usually ...

Improved Protocol for Chromatin Immunoprecipitation from Mouse Skeletal Muscle

We describe an efficient and reproducible protocol for the preparation of chromatin from adult mouse skeletal muscle, a physically resistant tissue with a high content of structural proteins. Dissected limb muscles from adult mice are physically disrupted by mechanical homogenisation, or a combination of mincing and douncing, in a hypotonic buffer before formaldehyde fixation of the cell lysate. The fixed nuclei are purified by further cycles of mechanical homogenisation or douncing and sequential filtrations to remove cell debris. The purified nuclei can be sonicated immediately or at a later stage after freezing. The chromatin can be efficiently sonicated and is suitable for chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments, as illustrated by the profiles obtained for transcription factors, RNA polymerase II, and covalent histone modifications. The binding events detected using chromatin prepared by this protocol are predominantly those taking place in the muscle fiber nuclei despite the presence of chromatin from other fiber-associated satellite and endothelial cells. This protocol is therefore adapted to study gene regulation in the adult mouse skeletal muscle.

A novel protocol for the preparation of chromatin from adult mouse skeletal muscle adapted to the study of gene regulation in muscle fibers by chromatin immunoprecipitation is presented.

We describe an efficient and reproducible protocol for the preparation of chromatin from adult mouse skeletal muscle, a physically resistant tissue with a ...

Activated Cross-linked Agarose for the Rapid Development of Affinity Chromatography Resins - Antibody Capture as a Case Study

The purification of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) is commonly achieved by Protein A affinity chromatography, which can account for up to 25% of the overall process costs. Alternative, cost-effective capture steps are therefore valuable for industrial-scale manufacturing, where large quantities of a single mAb are produced. Here we present a method for the immobilization of a DsRed-based epitope ligand to a cross-linked agarose resin allowing the selective capture of the HIV-neutralizing antibody 2F5 from crude plant extracts without using Protein A. The linear epitope ELDKWA was first genetically fused to the fluorescent protein DsRed and the fusion protein was expressed in transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) plants before purification by immobilized metal-ion affinity chromatography. Furthermore, a method based on activated cross-linked agarose was optimized for high ligand density, efficient coupling and low costs. The pH and buffer composition and the soluble ligand concentration were the most important parameters during the coupling procedure, which was improved using a design-of-experiments approach. The resulting affinity resin was tested for its ability to selectively bind the target mAb in a crude plant extract and the elution buffer was optimized for high mAb recovery, product activity and affinity resin stability. The method can easily be adapted to other antibodies with linear epitopes. The new resins allow gentler elution conditions than Protein A and could also reduce the costs of an initial capture step for mAb production.

In this procedure, a DsRed-based epitope ligand is immobilized to produce a highly selective affinity resin for the capture of monoclonal antibodies from crude plant extracts or cell culture supernatants, as an alternative to Protein A.

The purification of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) is commonly achieved by Protein A affinity chromatography, which can account for up to 25% of the overall ...

Quantification of Protein Interaction Network Dynamics using Multiplexed Co-Immunoprecipitation

Dynamic protein-protein interactions control cellular behavior, from motility to DNA replication to signal transduction. However, monitoring dynamic interactions among multiple proteins in a protein interaction network is technically difficult. Here, we present a protocol for Quantitative Multiplex Immunoprecipitation (QMI), which allows quantitative assessment of fold changes in protein interactions based on relative fluorescence measurements of Proteins in Shared Complexes detected by Exposed Surface epitopes (PiSCES). In QMI, protein complexes from cell lysates are immunoprecipitated onto microspheres, and then probed with a labeled antibody for a different protein in order to quantify the abundance of PiSCES. Immunoprecipitation antibodies are conjugated to different MagBead spectral regions, which allows a flow cytometer to differentiate multiple parallel immunoprecipitations and simultaneously quantify the amount of probe antibody associated with each. QMI does not require genetic tagging and can be performed using minimal biomaterial compared to other immunoprecipitation methods. QMI can be adapted for any defined group of interacting proteins, and has thus far been used to characterize signaling networks in T cells and neuronal glutamate synapses. Results have led to new hypothesis generation with potential diagnostic and therapeutic applications. This protocol includes instructions to perform QMI, from the initial antibody panel selection through to running assays and analyzing data. The initial assembly of a QMI assay involves screening antibodies to generate a panel, and empirically determining an appropriate lysis buffer. The subsequent reagent preparation includes covalently coupling immunoprecipitation antibodies to MagBeads, and biotinylating probe antibodies so they can be labeled by a streptavidin-conjugated fluorophore. To run the assay, lysate is mixed with MagBeads overnight, and then beads are divided and incubated with different probe antibodies, and then a fluorophore label, and read by flow cytometry. Two statistical tests are performed to identify PiSCES that differ significantly between experimental conditions, and results are visualized using heatmaps or node-edge diagrams.

Quantitative Multiplex Immunoprecipitation (QMI) uses flow cytometry for sensitive detection of differences in the abundance of targeted protein-protein interactions between two samples. QMI can be performed using a small amount of biomaterial, does not require genetically engineered tags, and can be adapted for any previously defined protein interaction network.

Dynamic protein-protein interactions control cellular behavior, from motility to DNA replication to signal transduction. However, monitoring dynamic ...

Preparation of High-Quality Fermented Fish Product

This protocol provides a method for preparation of industrialized fermented fish product with sturgeon (Aquilaria sinensis) meat product. The procedures were: (1) pretreatment of farmed sturgeon including decapitation, evisceration, skinning-off, cleaning and cutting; (2) marinating fish cubes in 6-12% (w/v) salt solution (1:1, fish cube mass to solution volume); (3) drying fish cubes to a water content of 50-60% by hot air (40-60 &#176;C) or by vacuum; (4) fermentation involving inoculating fish cubes with 0.4-1.6% (w/w) S. cerevisiae in flavor solution to fish cubes and fermenting at 25-35 &#176;C for 6-10 h; (5) sealing fish cubes in vacuum packages with marinating and fermenting solutions; (6) sterilizing at 115-121 &#176;C for 10-20 min. The sturgeon meat product prepared by this method has delicious taste which is mellow and thick, has various types and large amounts of volatile flavor compounds such as alcohols and esters which could mask musty and unpleasant odor from fish, has moderate salt content but good texture properties such as high springiness, gumminess and chewiness, and has bright russet color and attractive appearance. This new technique could also be applied in the processing of other fish to provide convenient fish snack foods which could be stored at room temperature. It is appropriate for both marine and freshwater fish.

The goal of the protocol is to provide an industrialized fish fermentation technique based on inoculation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

This protocol provides a method for preparation of industrialized fermented fish product with sturgeon (Aquilaria sinensis) meat product. The procedures ...

Obtaining High-Quality Transcriptome Data from Cereal Seeds by a Modified Method for Gene Expression Profiling

The characterization of gene expression is dependent on RNA quality. In germinating, developing and mature cereal seeds, the extraction of high-quality RNA is often hindered by high starch and sugar content. These compounds can reduce both the yield and the quality of the extracted total RNA. The deterioration in quantity and quality of total RNA can subsequently have a significant impact on the downstream transcriptomic analyses, which may not accurately reflect the spatial and/or temporal variation in the gene expression profile of the samples being tested. In this protocol, we describe an optimized method for extraction of total RNA with sufficient quantity and quality to be used for whole transcriptome analysis of cereal grains. The described method is suitable for several downstream applications used for transcriptomic profiling of developing, germinating, and mature cereal seeds. The method of transcriptome profiling using a microarray platform is shown. This method is specifically designed for gene expression profiling of cereals with described genome sequences. The detailed procedure from microarray handling to final quality control is described. This includes cDNA synthesis, cRNA labelling, microarray hybridization, slide scanning, feature extraction, and data quality validation. The data generated by this method can be used to characterize the transcriptome of cereals during germination, in various stages of grain development, or at different biotic or abiotic stress conditions. The results presented here exemplify high-quality transcriptome data amenable for downstream bioinformatics analyses, such as the determination of differentially expressed genes (DEGs), characterisation of gene regulatory networks, and conducting transcriptome-wide association study (TWAS).

A method for transcriptome profiling of cereals is presented. The microarray-based gene expression profiling starts with the isolation of high-quality total RNA from cereal grains and continues with the generation of cDNA. After cRNA labelling and microarray hybridization, recommendations are given for signal detection and quality control.

The characterization of gene expression is dependent on RNA quality. In germinating, developing and mature cereal seeds, the extraction of high-quality ...

Preparing Lamellae from Vitreous Biological Samples Using a Dual-Beam Scanning Electron Microscope for Cryo-Electron Tomography

Presented here is a protocol for preparing cryo-lamellae from plunge-frozen grids of Plasmodium falciparum-infected&#160;human erythrocytes, which could easily be adapted for other biological samples. The basic principles for preparing samples, milling, and viewing lamellae are common to all instruments and the protocol can be followed as a general guide to on-grid cryo-lamella preparation for cryo-electron microscopy (cryoEM) and cryo-electron tomography (cryoET). Electron microscopy grids supporting the cells are plunge-frozen into liquid nitrogen-cooled liquid ethane using a manual or automated plunge freezer, then screened on a light microscope equipped with a cryo-stage. Frozen grids are transferred into a cryo-scanning electron microscope equipped with a focused ion beam (cryoFIB-SEM). Grids are routinely sputter coated prior to milling, which aids dispersal of charge build-up during milling. Alternatively, an e-beam rotary coater can be used to apply a layer of carbon-platinum to the grids, the exact thickness of which can be more precisely controlled. Once inside the cryoFIB-SEM an additional coating of an organoplatinum compound is applied to the surface of the grid via a gas injection system (GIS). This layer protects the front edge of the lamella as it is milled, the integrity of which is critical for achieving uniformly thin lamellae. Regions of interest are identified via SEM and milling is carried out in a step-wise fashion, reducing the current of the ion beam as the lamella reaches electron transparency, in order to avoid excessive heat generation. A grid with multiple lamellae is then transferred to a transmission electron microscope (TEM) under cryogenic conditions for tilt-series acquisition. A robust and contamination-free workflow for lamella preparation is an essential step for downstream techniques, including cellular cryoEM, cryoET, and sub-tomogram averaging. Development of these techniques, especially for lift-out and milling of high-pressure frozen samples, is of high-priority in the field.

Using focused ion beam milling to produce vitreous on-grid lamellae from plunge frozen biological samples for cryo-electron tomography.

Presented here is a protocol for preparing cryo-lamellae from plunge-frozen grids of Plasmodium falciparum-infected&#160;human erythrocytes, which could ...

Measurement of Protein Import Capacity of Skeletal Muscle Mitochondria

Mitochondria are key metabolic and regulatory organelles that determine the energy supply as well as the overall health of the cell. In skeletal muscle, mitochondria exist in a series of complex morphologies, ranging from small oval organelles to a broad, reticulum-like network. Understanding how the mitochondrial reticulum expands and develops in response to diverse stimuli such as alterations in energy demand has long been a topic of research. A key aspect of this growth, or biogenesis, is the import of precursor proteins, originally encoded by the nuclear genome, synthesized in the cytosol, and translocated into various mitochondrial sub-compartments. Mitochondria have developed a sophisticated mechanism for this import process, involving many selective inner and outer membrane channels, known as the protein import machinery (PIM). Import into the mitochondrion is dependent on viable membrane potential and the availability of organelle-derived ATP through oxidative phosphorylation. Therefore its measurement can serve as a measure of organelle health. The PIM also exhibits a high level of adaptive plasticity in skeletal muscle that is tightly coupled to the energy status of the cell. For example, exercise training has been shown to increase import capacity, while muscle disuse reduces it, coincident with changes in markers of mitochondrial content. Although protein import is a critical step in the biogenesis and expansion of mitochondria, the process is not widely studied in skeletal muscle. Thus, this paper outlines how to use isolated and fully functional mitochondria from skeletal muscle to measure protein import capacity in order to promote a greater understanding of the methods involved and an appreciation of the importance of the pathway for organelle turnover in exercise, health, and disease.

Mitochondria are key metabolic organelles that exhibit a high level of phenotypic plasticity in skeletal muscle. The import of proteins from the cytosol is a critical pathway for organelle biogenesis, essential for the expansion of the reticulum and the maintenance of mitochondrial function. Therefore, protein import serves as a barometer of cellular health.

Mitochondria are key metabolic and regulatory organelles that determine the energy supply as well as the overall health of the cell. In skeletal muscle, ...

Quantification of Subcellular Glycogen Distribution in Skeletal Muscle Fibers using Transmission Electron Microscopy

With the use of transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution images of fixed samples containing individual muscle fibers can be obtained. This enables quantifications of ultrastructural aspects such as volume fractions, surface area to volume ratios, morphometry, and physical contact sites of different subcellular structures. In the 1970s, a protocol for enhanced staining of glycogen in cells was developed and paved the way for a string of studies on the subcellular localization of glycogen and glycogen particle size using transmission electron microscopy. While most analyses interpret glycogen as if it is homogeneously distributed within the muscle fibers, providing only a single value (e.g., an average concentration), transmission electron microscopy has revealed that glycogen is stored as discrete glycogen particles located in distinct subcellular compartments. Here, the step-by-step protocol from tissue collection to the quantitative determination of the volume fraction and particle diameter of glycogen in the distinct subcellular compartments of individual skeletal muscle fibers is described. Considerations on how to 1) collect and stain tissue specimens, 2) perform image analyses and data handling, 3) evaluate the precision of estimates, 4) discriminate between muscle fiber types, and 5) methodological pitfalls and limitations are included.

A modified post-fixation procedure increases the contrast of glycogen particles in tissue. This paper provides a step-by-step protocol describing how to handle the tissue, conduct the imaging, and use stereological methods to obtain unbiased and quantitative data on fiber type-specific subcellular glycogen distribution in skeletal muscle.

With the use of transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution images of fixed samples containing individual muscle fibers can be obtained. This ...