Separation of Rat Epidermis and Dermis with Thermolysin to Detect Site-Specific Inflammatory mRNA and ProteinVikramsingh Gujar *1, Michael B. Anderson *1, Kenneth E. Miller *1, Radhika D. Pande 1, Pranav Nawani 2, Subhas Das 1
1Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, 2Institute for Shock Physics, Washington State University
Presented here is a protocol for the separation of epidermis from dermis to evaluate inflammatory mediator production. Following inflammation, rat hind paw epidermis is separated from the dermis by thermolysin at 4 °C. The epidermis is then used for mRNA analysis by RT-PCR and protein evaluation by western blot and immunohistochemistry.