Name: analysis of scap n-glycosylation and trafficking in human cells
Uploaded: 2016-11-08T14:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Analysis of SCAP N-glycosylation and Trafficking in Human Cells at JoVE.com

We are grateful to Drs. Mike S. Brown and Joseph L. Goldstein for their agreement to publish this method according to the methods described in their publications. We appreciate Dr. Peter Espenshade for sharing the GFP-SCAP plasmid. This work was supported by NIH grants NS072838 and NS079701 to D.G., American Cancer Society Research Scholar Grant RSG-14-228-01-CSM to D.G., and OSUCCC Pelotonia Postdoctoral Fellowship to C.C. We also appreciate the support from the Ohio State Neuroscience Core (P30 NS038526) and OSUCCC Translational Therapeutic Program seed grant and start-up funds to D.G.

1. Detection of Endogenous SCAP Protein in Human Cells
<ol>
	<li>Cell Culture and Treatment
	<ol>
		<li>Seed ~ 1 &#215; 106 U87 cells in a 10 cm dish with Dulbecco&#39;s Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) supplemented with 5% fetal bovine serum (FBS) and incubate the cells at 37 &#176;C and 5% CO2 for 24 hr before treatment.</li>
		<li>Wash cells once with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), then switch cells to fresh DMEM medium with or without glucose (5 mM) for 12 hr.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Preparation...

<ol>
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L. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Regulation+of+sterol+synthesis+in+eukaryotes.">Regulation of sterol synthesis in eukaryotes.</a> Annu Rev Genet. 41, 401-427 (2007).</li><li>Yang, T., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Crucial+step+in+cholesterol+homeostasis:+sterols+promote+binding+of+SCAP+to+INSIG-1,+a+membrane+protein+that+facilitates+retention+of+SREBPs+in+ER.">Crucial step in cholesterol homeostasis: sterols promote binding of SCAP to INSIG-1, a membrane protein that facilitates retention of SREBPs in ER.</a> Cell. 110, 489-500 (2002).</li><li>Yabe, D., Brown, M. S., Goldstein, J. L. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Insig-2,+a+second+endoplasmic+reticulum+protein+that+binds+SCAP+and+blocks+export+of+sterol+regulatory+element-binding+proteins.">Insig-2, a second endoplasmic reticulum protein that binds SCAP and blocks export of sterol regulatory element-binding proteins.</a> Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 99, 12753-12758 (2002).</li><li>Yabe, D., Xia, Z. P., Adams, C. M., Rawson, R. B. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Three+mutations+in+sterol-sensing+domain+of+SCAP+block+interaction+with+insig+and+render+SREBP+cleavage+insensitive+to+sterols.">Three mutations in sterol-sensing domain of SCAP block interaction with insig and render SREBP cleavage insensitive to sterols.</a> Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 99, 16672-16677 (2002).</li><li>Espenshade, P. J., Li, W. 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J. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Regulated+step+in+cholesterol+feedback+localized+to+budding+of+SCAP+from+ER+membranes.">Regulated step in cholesterol feedback localized to budding of SCAP from ER membranes.</a> Cell. 102, 315-323 (2000).</li><li>Sakai, J., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Sterol-regulated+release+of+SREBP-2+from+cell+membranes+requires+two+sequential+cleavages,+one+within+a+transmembrane+segment.">Sterol-regulated release of SREBP-2 from cell membranes requires two sequential cleavages, one within a transmembrane segment.</a> Cell. 85, 1037-1046 (1996).</li><li>Wang, X., Sato, R., Brown, M. S., Hua, X., Goldstein, J. L. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=SREBP-1,+a+membrane-bound+transcription+factor+released+by+sterol-regulated+proteolysis.">SREBP-1, a membrane-bound transcription factor released by sterol-regulated proteolysis.</a> Cell. 77, 53-62 (1994).</li><li>Brown, M. S., Goldstein, J. L. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=A+proteolytic+pathway+that+controls+the+cholesterol+content+of+membranes,+cells,+and+blood.">A proteolytic pathway that controls the cholesterol content of membranes, cells, and blood.</a> Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 96, 11041-11048 (1999).</li><li>Rawson, R. B., DeBose-Boyd, R., Goldstein, J. L., Brown, M. S. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Failure+to+cleave+sterol+regulatory+element-binding+proteins+(SREBPs)+causes+cholesterol+auxotrophy+in+Chinese+hamster+ovary+cells+with+genetic+absence+of+SREBP+cleavage-activating+protein.">Failure to cleave sterol regulatory element-binding proteins (SREBPs) causes cholesterol auxotrophy in Chinese hamster ovary cells with genetic absence of SREBP cleavage-activating protein.</a> J Biol Chem. 274, 28549-28556 (1999).</li><li>Zelenski, N. G., Rawson, R. B., Brown, M. S., Goldstein, J. 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S. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Autocatalytic+processing+of+site-1+protease+removes+propeptide+and+permits+cleavage+of+sterol+regulatory+element-binding+proteins.">Autocatalytic processing of site-1 protease removes propeptide and permits cleavage of sterol regulatory element-binding proteins.</a> The Journal of biological chemistry. 274, 22795-22804 (1999).</li><li>Guo, D. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=SCAP+links+glucose+to+lipid+metabolism+in+cancer+cells.">SCAP links glucose to lipid metabolism in cancer cells.</a> Mol Cell Oncol. 3, (2016).</li><li>Cheng, C., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Glucose-Mediated+N-glycosylation+of+SCAP+Is+Essential+for+SREBP-1+Activation+and+Tumor+Growth.">Glucose-Mediated N-glycosylation of SCAP Is Essential for SREBP-1 Activation and Tumor Growth.</a> Cancer Cell. 28, 569-581 (2015).</li><li>Shao, W., Espenshade, P. J. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Sugar+Makes+Fat+by+Talking+to+SCAP.">Sugar Makes Fat by Talking to SCAP.</a> Cancer Cell. 28, 548-549 (2015).</li><li>Guo, D., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=EGFR+signaling+through+an+Akt-SREBP-1-dependent,+rapamycin-resistant+pathway+sensitizes+glioblastomas+to+antilipogenic+therapy.">EGFR signaling through an Akt-SREBP-1-dependent, rapamycin-resistant pathway sensitizes glioblastomas to antilipogenic therapy.</a> Sci Signal. 2, 82 (2009).</li><li>Guo, D., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=An+LXR+agonist+promotes+GBM+cell+death+through+inhibition+of+an+EGFR/AKT/SREBP-1/LDLR-dependent+pathway.">An LXR agonist promotes GBM cell death through inhibition of an EGFR/AKT/SREBP-1/LDLR-dependent pathway.</a> Cancer Discov. 1, 442-456 (2011).</li><li>Guo, D., Bell, E. 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In this study, we describe a protocol for the isolation of membrane fractions in human cells and for the preparation of the samples for the detection of SCAP N-glycosylation and total protein by using western blot. We further provide a method to monitor SCAP trafficking by using GFP-labeling and confocal microscopy. The method is specifically used to analyze membrane protein and is an important tool to investigate SCAP N-glycosylation and trafficking.
Compared with the method...

Deregulation of lipid metabolism is a common characteristic of cancer and metabolic diseases1-6. In these processes, sterol regulatory element-binding proteins (SREBPs), a family of transcription factors, play a critical role in controlling the expression of genes important for the uptake and synthesis of cholesterol, fatty acids, and phospholipids7-10.
SREBPs, including SREBP-1a, SREBP-1c, and SREBP-2, are synthesized as inactive precursors that bind to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane by virtue of two transmembrane domains7. The N-terminus of SREBPs contains a DNA-binding domain for the transactivation of target genes11. The C-terminus of SREBP precursors binds to SREBP cleavage-activating protein (SCAP)12,13, a polytopic membrane protein that plays a pivotal role in the regulation of SREBP stability and activation14-16.
The implementation of transcriptional function requires the translocation of the SCAP/SREBP complex from the ER to the Golgi, where two proteases sequentially cleave SREBP and release its N-terminal fragment, which then enters into the nucleus for the transactivation of lipogenic genes7. In these processes, the levels of sterols in the ER membrane control the exit of the SCAP/SREBP complex from the ER7,17. Under high sterol conditions, sterol binds to SCAP or ER-resident insulin-induced gene protein-1 (Insig-1) or -2 (Insig-2), enhancing the association of SCAP with Insigs that retain the SCAP/SREBP complex in the ER18-20. When sterol levels decrease, SCAP dissociates with Insigs. This leads to a SCAP conformational change, which allows SCAP interaction with common coat proteins (COP)II complex. The complex mediates the incorporation of the SCAP/SREBP complex into the budding vesicles and directs its transport from the ER to the Golgi21,22. Upon translocation to the Golgi, SREBPs are sequentially cleaved by Site-1 and Site-2 proteases, leading to the release of the N-terminus7,23-29.
SCAP protein carries three N-linked oligosaccharides at asparagine (N) positions N263, N590, and N64115. We recently revealed that glucose-mediated N-glycosylation of SCAP in these sites is a prerequisite condition for SCAP/SREBP trafficking from the ER to the Golgi under low sterol conditions30-32. Loss of SCAP glycosylation via mutation of all three asparagine to glutamine (NNN to QQQ) disables the trafficking of the SCAP/SREBP complex and results in the instability of SCAP protein and reduction of SREBP activation31. Our recent data also demonstrate that SREBP-1 is highly activated in glioblastoma and regulated by SCAP N-glycosylation4,31,33,34. Targeting SCAP/SREBP-1 signaling is emerging as a new strategy to treat malignancies and metabolic syndromes1,3,35-38. Therefore, it is important to develop an effective method to analyze SCAP protein and N-glycosylation levels and monitor its trafficking in human cells and patient tissues.
The luminal region of SCAP protein (amino acids 540-707) in the ER contains two N-glycosylation sites (N590 and N641) that are protected from proteolysis when intact membranes are treated with trypsin15. This luminal fragment has a molecular weight of ~ 30 kDa that is small enough to allow the resolution of individual glycosylated variants of SCAP by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE)15,31. Here, we provide a method to detect N-glycosylation of SCAP and the total protein in human cells. This protocol is derived from the method described in the publications from the Brown and Goldstein laboratory15 and our recent publication31. The protocol can be used in the study of SCAP protein from mammalian cells.

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			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:259px;">X-treme GENE HP DNA Transfection Reagent&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:163px;">Roche</td>
			<td style="width:123px;">6366236001</td>
			<td style="width:91px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Opti-MEMI medium&#160;</td>
			<td>Life Technologies</td>
			<td>31985-070</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">trypsin&#160;</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>T6567</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">soybean trypsin inhibitor</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>T9777</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">PNGase F&#160;</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>P7367</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Anti-SCAP (9D5) antibody&#160;&#160;</td>
			<td>Santa Cruz</td>
			<td>sc-13553</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">GFP antibody&#160;</td>
			<td>Roche</td>
			<td>11814460001</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">SREBP-1 antibody (IgG-2A4)</td>
			<td>BD Pharmingen</td>
			<td>557036</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">PDI Antibody (H-17)</td>
			<td>Santa Cruz</td>
			<td style="width:123px;">sc-30932</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Lamin A Antibody (H-102)</td>
			<td>Santa Cruz</td>
			<td style="width:123px;">sc-20680</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">SCAP antibody (a.a 450-500)</td>
			<td>Bethyl Laboratories, Inc.</td>
			<td>A303-554A</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Dulbecco&#8217;s modified Eagle&#8217;s medium (DMEM) without glucose, pyruvate and glutamine&#160;&#160;</td>
			<td>Cellgro</td>
			<td>17-207-CV</td>
			<td>Add 1 Mm Pyravate and 4 mM Glutamine before use</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">22G x 1 1/2 needle&#160;</td>
			<td>BD&#160;</td>
			<td>305156</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">pepstatin A</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>P5318</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">leupeptin</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>L2884</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">PMSF</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>P7626</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">DTT</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>43819</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">ALLN</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>A6185</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Nitrocellulose membrane</td>
			<td>GE</td>
			<td>RPN3032D</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">EDTA Solution 0.5 M PH8.5 100 ml&#160;</td>
			<td>VWR</td>
			<td>82023-102&#160;</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">EGTA 0.5 M sterile (PH 8.0) 50 ml</td>
			<td>Fisher Scentific</td>
			<td>50255956</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">HyClone FBS</td>
			<td>Thermo scientific</td>
			<td>SH3007103</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">glycerol</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>G5516</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">&#946;-mercaptoethanol&#160;</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>M3148</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">bromophenol blue</td>
			<td>Sigma</td>
			<td>B8026</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">prolong gold antifade reagent with dapi</td>
			<td>life technologies</td>
			<td>P36935</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">L-glutamine (200 mM)</td>
			<td>life technologies</td>
			<td>25030081</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">sodium pyruvate</td>
			<td>life technologies</td>
			<td>11360-070</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

analysis of scap n-glycosylation and trafficking in human cells

Elevated lipogenesis is a common characteristic of cancer and metabolic diseases. Sterol regulatory element-binding proteins (SREBPs), a family of membrane-bound transcription factors controlling the expression of genes important for the synthesis of cholesterol, fatty acids and phospholipids, are frequently upregulated in these diseases. In the process of SREBP nuclear translocation, SREBP-cleavage activating protein (SCAP) plays a central role in the trafficking of SREBP from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to the Golgi and in subsequent proteolysis activation. Recently, we uncovered that glucose-mediated N-glycosylation of SCAP is a prerequisite condition for the exit of SCAP/SREBP from the ER and movement to the Golgi. N-glycosylation stabilizes SCAP and directs SCAP/SREBP trafficking. Here, we describe a protocol for the isolation of membrane fractions in human cells and for the preparation of the samples for the detection of SCAP N-glycosylation and total protein by using western blot. We further provide a method to monitor SCAP trafficking by using confocal microscopy. This protocol is appropriate for the investigation of SCAP N-glycosylation and trafficking in mammalian cells.

Figure 1 shows the detection of endogenous SCAP protein and SREBP-1 nuclear form in human glioblastoma U87 cells in response to glucose stimulation by using western blot. The membrane protein SCAP is detected in the &#34;membrane fraction&#34;. The nucleus form (N-terminal) of SREBP-1 is detected in the &#34;nuclear extracts&#34;. The level of SCAP protein (PDI serves as an internal control of ER membrane proteins) and SREBP-1 nuclear form are markedly enhanced by ...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Analysis of SCAP N-glycosylation and Trafficking in Human Cells at JoVE.com

Analysis of SCAP N-glycosylation and Trafficking in Human Cells

We describe a modified method for membrane fraction isolation from human cells and sample preparation for the detection of SCAP N-glycosylation and total protein by using western blot. We further introduce a GFP-labeling method to monitor SCAP trafficking using confocal microscopy. This protocol can be used in regular biology laboratories.

Analysis of SCAP N-glycosylation and Trafficking in Human Cells

Elevated lipogenesis is a common characteristic of cancer and metabolic diseases. Sterol regulatory element-binding proteins (SREBPs), a family of ...

The overall goal of this protocol is to provide a simple approach of analyzing SCAP N-glycosylation and its trafficking in human cells. This method is used to analyze the N-glycosylation of SCAP, which is indispensable for SCAP trafficking and activation of SREBP-mediated lipid metabolism in mammalian cells. Compare with the conventional method use lectins, our method provides a simple procedure in identifying SCAP N-glycosylation, will detecting its migration shift after removing N-glycan use PNGase.Though this method can provide an insight into cancer, it can also be applied to other systems, such as cardiovascular diseases and metabolic syndromes. To begin this procedure, seed one times 10 to the six U87 cells in a 10-centimeter dish with DMEM supplemented with 5%FBS, and incubate the cells at 37 degrees Celsius and 5%CO2 for 24 hours before treatment. Next, wash the cells once with PBS.Then, switch the PBS to fresh DMEM medium with or without glucose for 12 hours. To prepare cell membrane fractions and nuclear extracts, wash the cells once with PBS. Next, scrape the cells into one milliliter of PBS, and centrifuge at 1, 000 times g for five minutes at four degrees Celsius.Afterward, resuspend the cells in ice-cold buffer on ice for 30 minutes. Subsequently, pass the cell extracts through a 22-gauge needle 30 times, and centrifuge at 890 times g at four degrees Celsius for five minutes to isolate the nuclei. Then, use the supernatant for the separation of membrane fractions, and resuspend the nuclear pellet in 0.1 milliliters of buffer C.Following this, rotate the suspension at four degrees Celsius for 60 minutes, and centrifuge it at 20, 000 times g for 20 minutes at four degrees Celsius.Subsequently, heat the nuclear extracts at 100 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes with 5x loading buffer before subjecting them to SDS-PAGE. Afterward, centrifuge the supernatant at 20, 000 times g for 20 minutes at four degrees Celsius. For western blot analysis, dissolve the pellet in 0.1 milliliters of SDS lysis buffer.Then, incubate the membrane fraction at 37 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes, and determine the protein concentration by the Bradford protein assay. Next, add one microliter of 100x bromophenol blue solution before subjecting the sample to SDS-PAGE. Load 25 to 50 micrograms of the total membrane proteins on a 10%SDS-PAGE gel.Subsequently, run the gel at 80 volts for 15 minutes. Then, change to 130 volts, and run for another 115 minutes. Transfer the proteins from the SDS-PAGE gel to a nitrocellulose membrane at 140 milliamps for 130 minutes.For western blotting analysis, use anti-SCAP antibody to detect the total SCAP protein and PDI, an ER-resident protein, as an internal control. In addition, use anti-SREBP-1 antibody to detect the N-terminal band of SREBP-1, and use lamin A as an internal control for nuclear extracts. For membrane analysis, seed one times 10 to the six HEK293T cells in a 10-centimeter dish with DMEM supplemented with 5%FBS, and incubate the cells at 37 degrees Celsius and 5%CO2 for 24 hours before transfection.Next, dilute four to eight micrograms of GFP-SCAP plasmid in one milliliter of the reduced serum medium, and mix gently. Then, add eight to 16 microliters of DNA transfection reagent by pipetting it directly into the reduced serum medium containing plasmids, and mix gently. Incubate the transfection reagent and plasmid complex for 25 minutes at room temperature.Afterward, add the transfection complex to the cells with fresh medium, and continue to culture for 24 hours at 5%CO2 and 37 degrees Celsius. Wash them once with PBS, and treat them for 12 hours with or without glucose in the presence or absence of tunicamycin, an N-glycosylation inhibitor. Next, prepare the cell membrane pellets from the cells overexpressing GFP-SCAP according to the accompanying manuscript.For trypsin proteolysis, resuspend the cell membrane pellets in 114 microliters of buffer. Incubate 57 microliters of membrane proteins in the absence or presence of one microliter of trypsin for 30 minutes at 30 degrees Celsius. After 30 minutes, stop the reactions by adding two microliters of soybean trypsin inhibitor.For the deglycosylation with PNGase F, add 10 microliters of solution containing SDS and 2-mercaptoethanol to the sample. Then, heat the mixture at 100 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes. After that, sequentially add sodium phosphate, Nonidet P-40 with protease inhibitors, and PNGase F, and incubate the sample at 37 degrees Celsius for three hours.Then, stop the reactions by adding 5x loading buffer, and heat the mixture at 100 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes. Subsequently, load 25 to 50 micrograms of total membrane proteins on a 10%SDS-PAGE gel. Run the gel at 80 volts for 15 minutes.Then, change to 130 volts for another 115 minutes, followed by 140 milliamps for 130 minutes. Transfer the proteins from the SDS-PAGE gel to a nitrocellulose membrane at 140 milliamps for 130 minutes. For western blot, use 10 micrograms per milliliter of anti-SCAP antibody to detect N-glycosylation and the total SCAP protein.In this procedure, seed 2.5 times 10 to the five U87 cells in a 60-millimeter dish with DMEM supplemented with 5%FBS. Incubate the cells at 37 degrees Celsius and 5%CO2 for 24 hours before transfection. Then, dilute four micrograms of GFP-SCAP plasmid in 0.5 milliliters of reduced serum medium.Next, add eight microliters of DNA transfection reagent by pipetting it directly into the reduced serum medium containing plasmids, and mix gently. After that, incubate the transfection reagent and plasmid complex for 25 minutes at room temperature. Add the transfection complex to the cells with fresh medium, and continue to culture for 24 hours at 5%CO2 and 37 degrees Celsius.Reseed five to 10 times 10 to the four cells into a six-well plate containing a glass coverslip, and continue to culture at 37 degrees Celsius and 5%CO2 for 24 hours. Wash the cells once with PBS, and treat them for 12 hours with or without glucose in the presence or absence of tunicamycin. Then, wash the cells once with PBS, and fix them in 4%formaldehyde for 10 minutes.Afterward, wash the cells three times with PBS. Invert the coverslips, mount them on slides together with antifade reagent, and seal the coverslips using nail polish. Following this, check the GFP-SCAP trafficking using a 63x oil-immersion objective in a laser-scanning confocal microscope.Western blotting shows that glucose stimulation markedly enhanced the levels of SCAP protein and SREBP-1 nuclear formed in human glioblastoma U87 cells. The higher weight bands in this figure indicate SCAP protein containing one or two N-linked oligosaccharides in the presence of glucose and absence of PNGase or tunicamycin. In the presence of PNGase F, N-linked oligosaccharides were removed from SCAP protein, leading to the fragment moving faster in the SDS-PAGE.Inconsistent, blocking the N-glycosylation initiation process by tunicamycin completely abolished SCAP N-glycosylation, which was shown by the appearance of a lower band of SCAP fragment. This figure shows that GFP-SCAP trafficking from the ER to the Golgi in response to glucose stimulation was suppressed by tunicamycin treatment in U87 cells. These confocal microscopy images indicate that GFP-SCAP protein resides in the ER in the absence of glucose, as shown by its co-localization with PDI.In contrast, in the presence of glucose, GFP-SCAP moves to the Golgi, shown by the co-localization with the Golgi protein marker giantin. Moreover, tunicamycin treatment suppressed glucose-induced trafficking of GFP-SCAP from the ER to the Golgi. After its development, this technique paved the way for researchers in the field of lipid metabolism to explore metabolic alterations in human patients with cancer or metabolic syndromes.After watching this video, you should have a good understanding of how to detect SCAP N-glycosylation and analyze its trafficking in human cells.

analysis-of-scap-n-glycosylation-and-trafficking-in-human-cells

Research

JoVE Journal

Biology

Video Bioinformatics Analysis of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Colony Growth

Because video data are complex and are comprised of many images, mining information from video material is difficult to do without the aid of computer software.  Video bioinformatics is a powerful quantitative approach for extracting spatio-temporal data from video images using computer software to perform dating mining and analysis. In this article, we introduce a video bioinformatics method for quantifying the growth of human embryonic stem cells (hESC) by analyzing time-lapse videos collected in a Nikon BioStation CT incubator equipped with a camera for video imaging. In our experiments, hESC colonies that were attached to Matrigel were filmed for 48 hours in the BioStation CT.  To determine the rate of growth of these colonies, recipes were developed using CL-Quant software which enables users to extract various types of data from video images.  To accurately evaluate colony growth, three recipes were created. The first segmented the image into the colony and background, the second enhanced the image to define colonies throughout the video sequence accurately, and the third measured the number of pixels in the colony over time.  The three recipes were run in sequence on video data collected in a BioStation CT to analyze the rate of growth of individual hESC colonies over 48 hours. To verify the truthfulness of the CL-Quant recipes, the same data were analyzed manually using Adobe Photoshop software. When the data obtained using the CL-Quant recipes and Photoshop were compared, results were virtually identical, indicating the CL-Quant recipes were truthful. The method described here could be applied to any video data to measure growth rates of hESC or other cells that grow in colonies. In addition, other video bioinformatics recipes can be developed in the future for other cell processes such as migration, apoptosis, and cell adhesion.  

Video bioinformatics is the automated processing, analysis, understanding, and data mining of biological spatio-temporal data extracted from microscopic videos. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate a method for measuring human embryonic stem cell colony growth using a video bioinformatics method.

Because video data are complex and are comprised of many images, mining information from video material is difficult to do without the aid of computer ...

Phenotypic Analysis and Isolation of Murine Hematopoietic Stem Cells and Lineage-committed Progenitors

The bone marrow is the principal site where HSCs and more mature blood cells lineage progenitors reside and differentiate in an adult organism. HSCs constitute a minute cell population of pluripotent cells capable of generating all blood cell lineages for a life-time1. The molecular dissection of HSCs homeostasis in the bone marrow has important implications in hematopoiesis, oncology and regenerative medicine. We describe the labeling protocol with fluorescent antibodies and the electronic gating procedure in flow cytometry to score hematopoietic progenitor subsets and HSCs distribution in individual mice (Fig. 1). In addition, we describe a method to extensively enrich hematopoietic progenitors as well as long-term (LT) and short term (ST) reconstituting HSCs from pooled bone marrow cell suspensions by magnetic enrichment of cells expressing c-Kit. The resulting cell preparation can be used to sort selected subsets for in vitro and in vivo functional studies (Fig. 2).
Both trabecular osteoblasts2,3 and sinusoidal endothelium4 constitute functional niches supporting HSCs in the bone marrow. Several mechanisms in the osteoblastic niche, including a subset of N-cadherin+ osteoblasts3 and interaction of the receptor tyrosine kinase Tie2 expressed in HSCs with its ligand angiopoietin-15 concur in determining HSCs quiescence. "Hibernation" in the bone marrow is crucial to protect HSCs from replication and eventual exhaustion upon excessive cycling activity6. Exogenous stimuli acting on cells of the innate immune system such as Toll-like receptor ligands7 and interferon-&alpha;6 can also induce proliferation and differentiation of HSCs into lineage committed progenitors. Recently, a population of dormant mouse HSCs within the lin- c-Kit+ Sca-1+ CD150+ CD48- CD34- population has been described8. Sorting of cells based on CD34 expression from the hematopoietic progenitors-enriched cell suspension as described here allows the isolation of both quiescent self-renewing LT-HSCs and ST-HSCs9. A similar procedure based on depletion of lineage positive cells and sorting of LT-HSC with CD48 and Flk2 antibodies has been previously described10. In the present report we provide a protocol for the phenotypic characterization and ex vivo cell cycle analysis of hematopoietic progenitors, which can be useful for monitoring hematopoiesis in different physiological and pathological conditions. Moreover, we describe a FACS sorting procedure for HSCs, which can be used to define factors and mechanisms regulating their self-renewal, expansion and differentiation in cell biology and signal transduction assays as well as for transplantation.

A method to analyse the distribution of bone marrow hematopoietic progenitors in flow cytometry as well as to efficiently isolate highly purified hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) is described. The isolation procedure is essentially based on magnetic enrichment of c-Kit+ cells and cell sorting to purify HSCs for cellular and molecular studies.

The bone marrow is the principal site where HSCs and more mature blood cells lineage progenitors reside and differentiate in an adult organism. HSCs ...

RNA-seq Analysis of Transcriptomes in Thrombin-treated and Control Human Pulmonary Microvascular Endothelial Cells

The characterization of gene expression in cells via measurement of mRNA levels is a useful tool in determining how the transcriptional machinery of the cell is affected by external signals (e.g. drug treatment), or how cells differ between a healthy state and a diseased state. With the advent and continuous refinement of next-generation DNA sequencing technology, RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) has become an increasingly popular method of transcriptome analysis to catalog all species of transcripts, to determine the transcriptional structure of all expressed genes and to quantify the changing expression levels of the total set of transcripts in a given cell, tissue or organism1,2 . RNA-seq is gradually replacing DNA microarrays as a preferred method for transcriptome analysis because it has the advantages of profiling a complete transcriptome, providing a digital type datum (copy number of any transcript) and not relying on any known genomic sequence3.
Here, we present a complete and detailed protocol to apply RNA-seq to profile transcriptomes in human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells with or without thrombin treatment. This protocol is based on our recent published study entitled "RNA-seq Reveals Novel Transcriptome of Genes and Their Isoforms in Human Pulmonary Microvascular Endothelial Cells Treated with Thrombin,"4 in which we successfully performed the first complete transcriptome analysis of human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells treated with thrombin using RNA-seq. It yielded unprecedented resources for further experimentation to gain insights into molecular mechanisms underlying thrombin-mediated endothelial dysfunction in the pathogenesis of inflammatory conditions, cancer, diabetes, and coronary heart disease, and provides potential new leads for therapeutic targets to those diseases.
The descriptive text of this protocol is divided into four parts. The first part describes the treatment of human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells with thrombin and RNA isolation, quality analysis and quantification. The second part describes library construction and sequencing. The third part describes the data analysis. The fourth part describes an RT-PCR validation assay. Representative results of several key steps are displayed. Useful tips or precautions to boost success in key steps are provided in the Discussion section. Although this protocol uses human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells treated with thrombin, it can be generalized to profile transcriptomes in both mammalian and non-mammalian cells and in tissues treated with different stimuli or inhibitors, or to compare transcriptomes in cells or tissues between a healthy state and a disease state.

This protocol presents a complete and detailed procedure to apply RNA-seq, a powerful next-generation DNA sequencing technology, to profile transcriptomes in human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells with or without thrombin treatment. This protocol is generalizable to various cells or tissues affected by different reagents or disease states.

The characterization of gene expression in cells via measurement of mRNA levels is a useful tool in determining how the transcriptional machinery of the ...

Induction and Analysis of Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition

Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is essential for proper morphogenesis during development. Misregulation of this process has been implicated as a key event in fibrosis and the progression of carcinomas to a metastatic state. Understanding the processes that underlie EMT is imperative for the early diagnosis and clinical control of these disease states. Reliable induction of EMT in vitro is a useful tool for drug discovery as well as to identify common gene expression signatures for diagnostic purposes. Here we demonstrate a straightforward method for the induction of EMT in a variety of cell types. Methods for the analysis of cells pre- and post-EMT induction by immunocytochemistry are also included. Additionally, we demonstrate the effectiveness of this method through antibody-based array analysis and migration/invasion assays.

A straightforward method is described for the induction of epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) in a variety of cell types. Methods for the analysis of cells in EMT states by immunocytochemistry are included.

Epithelial  to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is essential for proper morphogenesis during  development. Misregulation of this  process has been implicated ...

Efficient Generation Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells from Human Somatic Cells with Sendai-virus

A few years ago, the establishment of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) ushered in a new era in biomedicine. Potential uses of human iPSCs include modeling pathogenesis of human genetic diseases, autologous cell therapy after gene correction, and personalized drug screening by providing a source of patient-specific and symptom relevant cells. However, there are several hurdles to overcome, such as eliminating the remaining reprogramming factor transgene expression after human iPSCs production. More importantly, residual transgene expression in undifferentiated human iPSCs could hamper proper differentiations and misguide the interpretation of disease-relevant in vitro phenotypes. With this reason, integration-free and/or transgene-free human iPSCs have been developed using several methods, such as adenovirus, the piggyBac system, minicircle vector, episomal vectors, direct protein delivery and synthesized mRNA. However, efficiency of reprogramming using integration-free methods is quite low in most cases.
Here, we present a method to isolate human iPSCs by using Sendai-virus (RNA virus) based reprogramming system. This reprogramming method shows consistent results and high efficiency in cost-effective manner.

Here, we present our established method to reprogram human somatic cells into transgene-free human iPSCs with Sendai virus, which shows consistent outcome and enhanced efficiency.

A few years ago, the establishment of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) ushered in a new era in biomedicine. Potential uses of human iPSCs ...

Profiling Individual Human Embryonic Stem Cells by Quantitative RT-PCR

Heterogeneity of stem cell population hampers detailed understanding of stem cell biology, such as their differentiation propensity toward different lineages. A single cell transcriptome assay can be a new approach for dissecting individual variation. We have developed the single cell qRT-PCR method, and confirmed that this method works well in several gene expression profiles. In single cell level, each human embryonic stem cell, sorted by OCT4::EGFP positive cells, has high expression in OCT4, but a different level of NANOG expression. Our single cell gene expression assay should be useful to interrogate population heterogeneities.

Single cell gene expression assay is needed for understanding stem cell heterogeneities.

Heterogeneity of stem cell population hampers detailed understanding of stem cell biology, such as their differentiation propensity toward different ...

Tracking Drug-induced Changes in Receptor Post-internalization Trafficking by Colocalizational Analysis

The intracellular trafficking of receptors is a collection of complex and highly controlled processes. Receptor trafficking modulates signaling and overall cell responsiveness to ligands and is, itself, influenced by intra- and extracellular conditions, including ligand-induced signaling. Optimized for use with monolayer-plated cultured cells, but extendable to free-floating tissue slices, this protocol uses immunolabelling and colocalizational analysis to track changes in intracellular receptor trafficking following both chronic/prolonged and acute interventions, including exogenous drug treatment. After drug treatment, cells are double-immunolabelled for the receptor and for markers for the intracellular compartments of interest. Sequential confocal microscopy is then used to capture two-channel photomicrographs of individual cells, which are subjected to computerized colocalizational analysis to yield quantitative colocalization scores. These scores are normalized to permit pooling of independent replicates prior to statistical analysis. Representative photomicrographs may also be processed to generate illustrative figures. Here, we describe a powerful and flexible technique for quantitatively assessing induced receptor trafficking.

Receptor trafficking modulates signaling and cell responsiveness to ligands and is, itself, responsive to cell conditions, including ligand-induced signaling. Here, we describe a powerful and flexible technique for quantitatively assessing drug-induced receptor trafficking using immunolabeling and colocalizational analysis.

The intracellular trafficking of receptors is a collection of complex and highly controlled processes. Receptor trafficking modulates signaling and ...

High-resolution Time-lapse Imaging and Automated Analysis of Microtubule Dynamics in Living Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells

The physiological process by which new vasculature forms from existing vasculature requires specific signaling events that trigger morphological changes within individual endothelial cells (ECs). These processes are critical for homeostatic maintenance such as wound healing, and are also crucial in promoting tumor growth and metastasis. EC morphology is defined by the organization of the cytoskeleton, a tightly regulated system of actin and microtubule (MT) dynamics that is known to control EC branching, polarity and directional migration, essential components of angiogenesis. To study MT dynamics, we used high-resolution fluorescence microscopy coupled with computational image analysis of fluorescently-labeled MT plus-ends to investigate MT growth dynamics and the regulation of EC branching morphology and directional migration. Time-lapse imaging of living Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVECs) was performed following transfection with fluorescently-labeled MT End Binding protein 3 (EB3) and Mitotic Centromere Associated Kinesin (MCAK)-specific cDNA constructs to evaluate effects on MT dynamics. PlusTipTracker software was used to track EB3-labeled MT plus ends in order to measure MT growth speeds and MT growth lifetimes in time-lapse images. This methodology allows for the study of MT dynamics and the identification of how localized regulation of MT dynamics within sub-cellular regions contributes to the angiogenic processes of EC branching and migration.

Protocols for Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cell (HUVEC) culture, transient transfection of fluorescently-labeled markers of microtubule growth, live-cell imaging and automated analysis of interphase microtubule growth dynamics are detailed.

The physiological process by which new vasculature forms from existing vasculature requires specific signaling events that trigger morphological changes ...

Live Cell Imaging and 3D Analysis of Angiotensin Receptor Type 1a Trafficking in Transfected Human Embryonic Kidney Cells Using Confocal Microscopy

Live-cell imaging is used to simultaneously capture time-lapse images of angiotensin type 1a receptors (AT1aR) and intracellular compartments in transfected human embryonic kidney-293 (HEK) cells following stimulation with angiotensin II (Ang II). HEK cells are transiently transfected with plasmid DNA containing AT1aR tagged with enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP). Lysosomes are identified with a red fluorescent dye. Live-cell images are captured on a laser scanning confocal microscope after Ang II stimulation and analyzed by software in three dimensions (3D, voxels) over time. Live-cell imaging enables investigations into receptor trafficking and avoids confounds associated with fixation, and in particular, the loss or artefactual displacement of EGFP-tagged membrane receptors. Thus, as individual cells are tracked through time, the subcellular localization of receptors can be imaged and measured. Images must be acquired sufficiently rapidly to capture rapid vesicle movement. Yet, at faster imaging speeds, the number of photons collected is reduced. Compromises must also be made in the selection of imaging parameters like voxel size in order to gain imaging speed. Significant applications of live-cell imaging are to study protein trafficking, migration, proliferation, cell cycle, apoptosis, autophagy and protein-protein interaction and dynamics, to name but a few.

Here we present a protocol to image cells expressing green fluorescent protein-tagged angiotensin type 1a receptors during endocytosis initiated by angiotensin II treatment. This technique includes labeling lysosomes with a second fluorescent marker, and then utilizing software to analyze the co-localization of receptor and lysosome in three dimensions over time.

Live-cell imaging is used to simultaneously capture time-lapse images of angiotensin type 1a receptors (AT1aR) and intracellular compartments in ...

A Graphical User Interface for Software-assisted Tracking of Protein Concentration in Dynamic Cellular Protrusions

Filopodia are dynamic, finger-like cellular protrusions associated with migration and cell-cell communication. In order to better understand the complex signaling mechanisms underlying filopodial initiation, elongation and subsequent stabilization or retraction, it is crucial to determine the spatio-temporal protein activity in these dynamic structures. To analyze protein function in filopodia, we recently developed a semi-automated tracking algorithm that adapts to filopodial shape-changes, thus allowing parallel analysis of protrusion dynamics and relative protein concentration along the whole filopodial length. Here, we present a detailed step-by-step protocol for optimized cell handling, image acquisition and software analysis. We further provide instructions for the use of optional features during image analysis and data representation, as well as troubleshooting guidelines for all critical steps along the way. Finally, we also include a comparison of the described image analysis software with other programs available for filopodia quantification. Together, the presented protocol provides a framework for accurate analysis of protein dynamics in filopodial protrusions using image analysis software.

We present a software solution for semi-automated tracking of relative protein concentration along the length of dynamic cellular protrusions.

Filopodia are dynamic, finger-like cellular protrusions associated with migration and cell-cell communication. In order to better understand the complex ...