The authors thank Drs. Jim Lah and Allan Levey, Emory Department of Neurology, for helpful comments and suggestions. This work was partly funded by the Accelerating Medicine Partnership grant (U01AG046161-02), the Emory Alzheimer&#39;s Disease Research Center (P50AG025688) and a National Institute on Aging grant (R01AG053960-01) to N.T.S. This research was also supported in part by the Neuropathology Core of the Emory Neuroscience NINDS Core Facilities grant, P30NS055077.

Ethics Statement: All brain tissues were obtained from the Emory Alzheimer&#39;s Disease Research Center (ADRC) Brain Bank. Human postmortem tissues were acquired under proper Institutional Review Board (IRB) protocols.
1. Homogenization and Fractionation
<ol>
	<li>Tissue selection 
	NOTE: Frozen postmortem frontal cortex tissue from healthy control (Ctl) and pathologically confirmed AD cases were selected from the Emory ADRC brain bank (n=2). Post-mortem neuropathological evaluation of amyloid plaque distribution was performed according to the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer&#39;s Disease semi-quantitative scoring criteria24, although neurofibrillary tangle pathology was assessed in accordance with the Braak staging system.16
	<ol>
		<li>Obtain frozen postmortem brain tissue from healthy control (Ctl) and pathologically confirmed AD cases. Utilizing containers of dry ice, forceps and a razor blade, excise ~ 250 mg portions of grey matter from each tissue sample on tared disposable weigh boats, taking care to prevent the tissue from thawing. Record the weight of each piece to be homogenized.</li>
		<li>Excise ~ 250 mg of grey matter using forceps and razor by visually inspecting to locate the interface between the outer grey matter and inner white matter. Avoid white matter and more importantly, any large blood vessels or bloody regions, meninges, or arachnoid mater. Keep the tissue frozen during the cutting process by working quickly and frequently placing weighing boat with brain tissue into polystyrene containers with dry ice.</li>
		<li>Record the exact weight of grey matter excised from each frozen piece using an analytical balance. Calculate the volume of low salt (LS) buffer (see Table 1) needed for dounce homogenization (5 mL/g or 20% w/v).</li>
		<li>Prepare 10 mL LS buffer with 1x protease and phosphatase inhibitor cocktail and chill on ice.</li>
		<li>Remove weighed tissue and weighing boat from dry ice and dice into roughly 2 x 2 mm pieces as it thaws. Transfer to a 2 mL pre-chilled dounce homogenizer tube on ice.</li>
		<li>Add 5 mL/g (20% w/v) of ice-cold low salt (LS) buffer with 1X protease and phosphatase inhibitor cocktail.</li>
		<li>Homogenize the brain tissue on ice using approximately 10 strokes of high clearance pestle A and 15 strokes of low clearance pestle B.</li>
		<li>Transfer all homogenate to a 2 mL polypropylene tube using a glass Pasteur pipette. Label the tube with &#8220;TH&#8221; (Total Homogenate), the tissue case number, and homogenate volume.&#160; Aliquot 0.8 mL into a labeled 1.5 mL tube. Any excess homogenate can be similarly aliquoted and stored at -80 &#176;C.</li>
		<li>To each 0.8 mL aliquot, add 100 &#181;L each of 5 M NaCl and 10% (w/v) sarkosyl to concentrations of 0.5 M and 1% w/v, respectively. Mix tubes well by inversion and incubate on ice for 15 min. Label tubes with &#34;TH-S&#34; (Total Homogenate-Sarkosyl) to indicate that the homogenates are in sarkosyl-buffer (Table 1).</li>
		<li>Sonicate each tube for three 5 s pulses at 30% amplitude on ice (maximum intensity = 40%) using a microtip probe.&#160;</li>
		<li>Determine the protein concentrations of the homogenates using the bicinchoninic acid (BCA) assay25 method. 
		NOTE: The average protein concentration of TH-S homogenates prepared at 5 mL LS per gram of tissue is 15-20 mg/mL. The homogenates can be fractionated immediately or stored at -80 &#176;C until use.</li>
		<li>Dilute TH-S homogenates to 10 mg/mL using ice-cold sark buffer (Table 1) with 1x protease and phosphatase inhibitors.</li>
		<li>Transfer 5 mg protein (0.5 mL) of each TH-S homogenate into 500 &#181;L polycarbonate ultracentrifuge tubes and pair-balance with sark-buffer. Load tubes into a pre-chilled rotor and ultracentrifuge at 180,000 x g for 30 min at 4 &#176;C. Transfer the sarkosyl-soluble supernatants (S1) to 1.5 mL tubes and store at -80 &#176;C. 
		NOTE: (Optional wash) Add 200 &#181;L of sark-buffer to the ultracentrifuge tubes containing the detergent-insoluble fractions (P1) and dislodge the pellets (P1) from the bottom of the ultracentrifuge tubes using a 200 &#181;L pipette tip.</li>
		<li>Briefly pulse-spin the inverted tubes for 2-3 s (&#8804;2,500 x g) on a microcentrifuge to transfer the pellets (P1) and buffer to the 1.5 mL tubes below. Resuspend the insoluble pellets (P1) in the sark-buffer by pipetting up and down to ensure the pellet is disrupted.</li>
		<li>Pair-balance, and centrifuge at 180,000 x g for an additional 30 min at 4 &#176;C.&#160;</li>
		<li>Discard the optional wash supernatant (S2) and incubate the sarkosyl-insoluble pellets (P2) in 50-75 &#181;L of urea buffer (Table 1) with 1x PIC (protease and phosphatase inhibitor cocktail) for 30 min at room temperature to solubilize the pellet. 
		NOTE: Warm urea buffer to room temperature before use to avoid SDS precipitation. For detergent-sensitive applications, omit SDS from urea buffer and consider washing the insoluble pellet (P2) in low salt buffer before resuspending in urea buffer.</li>
		<li>Transfer the resuspended pellets (P2) to 0.5 mL tubes and use brief (1 s) microtip sonication at 20% amplitude (maximum intensity = 40%) to fully solubilize the pellets.</li>
		<li>Determine the protein concentrations of the sarkosyl-soluble (S1) and -insoluble (P2) fractions using the BCA assay method. Use these fractions immediately or store at -80 &#176;C until use.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>
2. Immunoblotting
<ol>
	<li>Western blotting 
	NOTE: Western blotting was performed according to previously reported procedures with slight modifications.5,10
	<ol>
		<li>Prepare 40 &#181;g samples of total homogenates (TH-S), sark-soluble (S1) and sark-insoluble (P2) fractions in 1X Laemmli SDS-page sample buffer with 5 mM TCEP pH 7. Incubate samples at 95 &#176;C for 5 min.</li>
		<li>Load samples on a precast 10-well 4-12% Bis-Tris SDS-PAGE gel. Electrophorese at 80 V for the first centimeter (10 min) and 120 V for the remainder (60 min) or until the tracking dye reaches the bottom of the gel.</li>
		<li>Use a fresh razor blade and gel knife to split-open the pre-cast gel cassette. Gently cut away the combs and very bottom of the gel with a fresh razor blade.</li>
		<li>Resuspend the insoluble pellets (P1) in 200 &#181;l sark-buffer with 1x PIC by pipetting up and down.</li>
		<li>Transfer to a 0.2 &#181;m nitrocellulose membrane using a dry transfer method on a blotting machine (see the Materials Table).</li>
		<li>Block the membrane in blocking buffer (BB) without Tween 20 for 30 min, followed with BB with 0.05% Tween 20 (BB/T) for 30 min. After blocking, rinse the membrane in TBS/T (0.1% Tween 20) for 5 min to remove excess blocking buffer.</li>
		<li>Prepare 1:1,000 dilutions of the primary antibodies pT231, Tau-2 (pan tau), AT8 and EEA1 in BB/T (0.05% Tween 20).</li>
		<li>Incubate the membranes in primary antibody solution overnight at 4 &#176;C with circular agitation. Rinse the membrane in TBS/T for 3 x 15 min.</li>
		<li>Probe the membrane with a 1:20,000 dilution of the fluorescently-labeled near-IR secondary antibody in BB/T for 60 min at room temperature in darkness on shaker. Rinse the membrane for 3 x 10 min in TBS/T and 2 x 5 min in TBS.</li>
		<li>Scan the membrane using an infrared imaging system at the appropriate excitation wavelength (e.g. 700 nm (red channel) for infrared dye 680 goat anti-mouse IgG (H+L) secondary and 800 nm (green channel) for infrared dye 790 donkey anti-rabbit IgG (H+L) secondary).</li>
		<li>Use the imaging software to quantify signal intensities and perform densitometry measurements as per the manufacturer&#39;s instructions, ensuring auto-background setting is set to average the entire background.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>

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The authors have nothing to disclose.

Herein we introduce and discuss an abbreviated single-step detergent-fractionation protocol that is applicable to a wide variety of experimental applications ranging from mass spectrometry-based proteomics analysis to functional protein misfolding assays and western blotting.5,6,7,10 This methodology is perhaps most effective when used to study neurodegenerative proteinopathies such as Alzheime...

Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer&#39;s disease (AD), Parkinson&#39;s disease (PD), Huntington&#39;s disease (HD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and the closely related prion diseases are proteinopathies characterized by the gradual accumulation of detergent-insoluble protein aggregates in the brain with accompanying cognitive decline.1,2 This shared pathological feature is thought to play a central role in the etiology and pathophysiology of these neurodegenerative diseases.2 These aggregates typically consist of polymeric amyloid fibers, which are composed of repeating units of misfolded protein exhibiting cross &#946;-structure.1,2,3,4 Biochemically, amyloid aggregates are highly resistant to chemical or thermal denaturation and solubilization,3 which presents unique challenges to their purification, analysis and study via traditional biochemical techniques.2,5,6,7,8,9,10,11 Unsurprisingly, the detergent-insoluble protein fraction has been the focus of much research into the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative diseases involving the accumulation of misfolded proteins.6,12,13,14
Biochemical fractionation techniques have often been utilized to enrich the detergent-insoluble fraction from postmortem brain homogenates.6,12,13,14 One of the most common methods involves the sequential extraction of tissue homogenates with buffers and detergents of increasing stringency, followed by ultracentrifugation to partition the soluble and insoluble fractions. A commonly used sequential fractionation protocol6,14 involves the homogenization of frozen tissue samples in a detergent-free low salt (LS) buffer and the resultant insoluble pellets are then sequentially extracted with buffers containing high salt, non-ionic detergents, high sucrose, ionic detergents and finally chaotropes like urea.6,14 An obvious drawback of such a sequential fractionation protocols is the substantial time and labor commitment required to complete them. Including homogenization and ultracentrifugation, a typical five-step fractionation protocol can take several hours or even days to complete. 4,6,7,10,15,16,17,18 Additionally, as many pathologic protein aggregates remain insoluble in all but the harshest conditions19,20 most of the generated fractions are of limited value. Thus, the less-stringent fractionation steps utilizing high salt concentrations and non-ionic detergents are largely redundant.
Previous studies have shown that the ionic detergent N-lauryl-sarcosine (sarkosyl) is an excellent candidate for a simplified single-step detergent fractionation protocol.5,6,12,13,14,21,22,23 As a denaturing detergent, sarkosyl is stringent enough to solubilize the vast majority of natively folded proteins in brain without solubilizing misfolded protein aggregates composed of beta-amyloid (A&#946;),6,11 phosphorylated tau (pTau),6 TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43),14 alpha-synuclein,12,13 scrapie,23 or U1 small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (U1 snRNPs) such as U1-70K.5,21,22As sarkosyl is less stringent than the ubiquitous anionic detergent sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), it preserves less robust oligomeric forms of misfolded protein aggregates that cannot withstand SDS treatment.9
Previously, we described an abbreviated detergent-fractionation protocol that achieved results comparable to the more laborious sequential fractionation methodologies.5 By omitting the less stringent fractionation steps, we were able to develop a facile single-step fractionation protocol for the enrichment of detergent-insoluble protein aggregates from postmortem human brain.5 This detailed protocol described herein is well suited for a wide range of experimental applications ranging from Western blotting and mass spectrometry-based proteomics to functional protein misfolding and aggregation seeding assays.5,6,21

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Protease and phosphatase inhibitor cocktail, EDTA-free (100X)</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher</td>
			<td>78441</td>
			<td>protease &#38; phosphatase inhibitor cocktail</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sonic Dismembrator System (ultrasonicator)</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>FB505110</td>
			<td>microtip ultrasonicator</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Optimax TLX Ultracentrifuge</td>
			<td>Beckman Coulter</td>
			<td>361545</td>
			<td>refrigerated ultracentrifuge</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>TLA120.1 rotor</td>
			<td>Beckman Coulter</td>
			<td>362224</td>
			<td>ultracentrifuge rotor</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>500 ul (8x34mm) polycarbonate tubes, thickwall</td>
			<td>Beckman Coulter</td>
			<td>343776</td>
			<td>ultracentrifuge tubes for TLA120.1 rotor</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>4X SDS sample buffer</td>
			<td>Home-made</td>
			<td>N/A</td>
			<td>SDS-PAGE</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>TCEP solution, neutral pH</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher</td>
			<td>77720</td>
			<td>reducing agent</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>(TBS) blocking buffer</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher</td>
			<td>37542</td>
			<td>blocking buffer</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>(TBS) blocking buffer + 0.05% Tween 20</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher</td>
			<td>37543</td>
			<td>blocking buffer and antibody diluent</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>4-12% Bolt Bis-Tris Plus gels, 10-well</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher</td>
			<td>NW04120BOX</td>
			<td>precast SDS-PAGE gels</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>MES SDS Running Buffer (20X)</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher</td>
			<td>B0002</td>
			<td>SDS-PAGE running buffer</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>N-Lauroylsarcosine sodium salt (sarkosyl)</td>
			<td>Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td>L5777-50G</td>
			<td>detergent</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>1.5 ml polypropylene Pellet Pestle</td>
			<td>Kimble Chase</td>
			<td>749521-1500</td>
			<td>homogenization tool</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>cordless motor for Pellet Pestle</td>
			<td>Kimble Chase</td>
			<td>749540-0000</td>
			<td>homogenization tool</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Anti-Tau-2 (pan tau) antibody</td>
			<td>Chemicon</td>
			<td>MAB375</td>
			<td>antibodies</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Anti-phospho-threonine 231 Tau antibody</td>
			<td>Millipore</td>
			<td>MAB5450</td>
			<td>antibodies</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Anti-phospho-seroine 202 and threonine 205 Tau antibody (AT8)</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher</td>
			<td>MN1020</td>
			<td>antibodies</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Anti-early endosome antigen 1 (EEA1) antibody</td>
			<td>abcam</td>
			<td>ab2900</td>
			<td>antibodies</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Alexa Fluor 680 goat anti-mouse IgG (H+L) secondary antibody</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher</td>
			<td>A21058</td>
			<td>antibodies</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Alexa Fluor 790 donkey anti-rabbit IgG (H+L) secondary antibody</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher</td>
			<td>A11374</td>
			<td>antibodies</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>iBlot2 Dry Blotting System</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher</td>
			<td>IB21001</td>
			<td>Gel transfer</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>iBlot2 Transfer Stacks, Nitrocellulose, mini</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher</td>
			<td>IB23002</td>
			<td>Gel transfer</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

enrichment of detergent-insoluble protein aggregates from human postmortem brain

In this study, we describe an abbreviated single-step fractionation protocol for the enrichment of detergent-insoluble protein aggregates from human postmortem brain. The ionic detergent N-lauryl-sarcosine (sarkosyl) effectively solubilizes natively folded proteins in brain tissue allowing the enrichment of detergent-insoluble protein aggregates from a wide range of neurodegenerative proteinopathies, such as Alzheimer&#39;s disease (AD), Parkinson&#39;s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and prion diseases. Human control and AD postmortem brain tissues were homogenized and sedimented by ultracentrifugation in the presence of sarkosyl to enrich detergent-insoluble protein aggregates including pathologic phosphorylated tau, the core component of neurofibrillary tangles in AD. Western blotting demonstrated the differential solubility of aggregated phosphorylated-tau and the detergent-soluble protein, Early Endosome Antigen 1 (EEA1) in control and AD brain. Proteomic analysis also revealed enrichment of &#946;-amyloid (A&#946;), tau, snRNP70 (U1-70K), and apolipoprotein E (APOE) in the sarkosyl-insoluble fractions of AD brain compared to those of control, consistent with previous tissue fractionation strategies. Thus, this simple enrichment protocol is ideal for a wide range of experimental applications ranging from Western blotting and functional protein co-aggregation assays to mass spectrometry-based proteomics.

The abbreviated single-step sarkosyl-fractionation protocol was used to enrich detergent-insoluble protein aggregates from control and AD postmortem brain (Figure 1). Proteins from TH-S, S1, S2 and P2 fractions were resolved by SDS-PAGE, fixed for 15 min in Coomassie blue fixative buffer followed by gentle staining with Coomassie Brilliant Blue G-250 staining buffer. The resuspension step is optional since there were undetectable levels of protein in the S2 f...

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Enrichment of Detergent-insoluble Protein Aggregates from Human Postmortem Brain

An abbreviated fractionation protocol for the enrichment of detergent-insoluble protein aggregates from human postmortem brain is described.

In this study, we describe an abbreviated single-step fractionation protocol for the enrichment of detergent-insoluble protein aggregates from human ...

enrichment-detergent-insoluble-protein-aggregates-from-human

Research

JoVE Journal

Biochemistry

12.0K Views.  Emory School of Medicine. An abbreviated fractionation protocol for the enrichment of detergent-insoluble protein aggregates from human postmortem brain is described.

Video: Enrichment of Detergent-insoluble Protein Aggregates from Human Postmortem Brain

Protein Complex Affinity Capture from Cryomilled Mammalian Cells

Affinity capture is an effective technique for isolating endogenous protein complexes for further study. When used in conjunction with an antibody, this technique is also frequently referred to as immunoprecipitation. Affinity capture can be applied in a bench-scale and in a high-throughput context. When coupled with protein mass spectrometry, affinity capture has proven to be a workhorse of interactome analysis. Although there are potentially many ways to execute the numerous steps involved, the following protocols implement our favored methods. Two features are distinctive: the use of cryomilled cell powder to produce cell extracts, and antibody-coupled paramagnetic beads as the affinity medium. In many cases, we have obtained superior results to those obtained with more conventional affinity capture practices. Cryomilling avoids numerous problems associated with other forms of cell breakage. It provides efficient breakage of the material, while avoiding denaturation issues associated with heating or foaming. It retains the native protein concentration up to the point of extraction, mitigating macromolecular dissociation. It reduces the time extracted proteins spend in solution, limiting deleterious enzymatic activities, and it may reduce the non-specific adsorption of proteins by the affinity medium. Micron-scale magnetic affinity media have become more commonplace over the last several years, increasingly replacing the traditional agarose- and Sepharose-based media. Primary benefits of magnetic media include typically lower non-specific protein adsorption; no size exclusion limit because protein complex binding occurs on the bead surface rather than within pores; and ease of manipulation and handling using magnets.

Here we describe protocols to disrupt mammalian cells by solid-state milling at a cryogenic temperature, produce a cell extract from the resulting cell powder, and isolate protein complexes of interest by affinity capture upon antibody-coupled micron-scale paramagnetic beads.

Affinity capture is an effective technique for isolating endogenous protein complexes for further study. When used in conjunction with an antibody, this ...

Tandem Affinity Purification of Protein Complexes from Eukaryotic Cells

The purification of active protein-protein and protein-nucleic acid complexes is crucial for the characterization of enzymatic activities and de novo identification of novel subunits and post-translational modifications. Bacterial systems allow for the expression and purification of a wide variety of single polypeptides and protein complexes. However, this system does not enable the purification of protein subunits that contain post-translational modifications (e.g., phosphorylation and acetylation), and the identification of novel regulatory subunits that are only present/expressed in the eukaryotic system. Here, we provide a detailed description of a novel, robust, and efficient tandem affinity purification (TAP) method using STREP- and FLAG-tagged proteins that facilitates the purification of protein complexes with transiently or stably expressed epitope-tagged proteins from eukaryotic cells. This protocol can be applied to characterize protein complex functionality, to discover post-translational modifications on complex subunits, and to identify novel regulatory complex components by mass spectrometry. Notably, this TAP method can be applied to study protein complexes formed by eukaryotic or pathogenic (viral and bacterial) components, thus yielding a wide array of downstream experimental opportunities. We propose that researchers working with protein complexes could utilize this approach in many different ways.

We describe here a novel, robust, and efficient tandem affinity purification (TAP) method for the expression, isolation, and characterization of protein complexes from eukaryotic cells. This protocol could be utilized for the biochemical characterization of discrete complexes as well as the identification of novel interactors and post-translational modifications that regulate their function.

The purification of active protein-protein and protein-nucleic acid complexes is crucial for the characterization of enzymatic activities and de novo ...

Protein Digestion, Ultrafiltration, and Size Exclusion Chromatography to Optimize the Isolation of Exosomes from Human Blood Plasma and Serum

Exosomes, a type of nanovesicle released from all cell types, can be isolated from any bodily fluid. The contents of exosomes, including proteins and RNAs, are unique to the cells from which they are derived and can be used as indicators of disease. Several common enrichment protocols, including ultracentrifugation, yield exosomes laden with soluble protein contaminants. Specifically, we have found that the most abundant proteins within blood often co-purify with exosomes and can confound downstream proteomic studies, thwarting the identification of low abundance biomarker candidates. Of additional concern is irreproducibility of exosome protein quantification due to inconsistent representation of non-exosomal protein levels. The protocol detailed here was developed to remove non-exosomal proteins that co-purify along with exosomes, adding rigor to the exosome purification process. Five methods were compared using paired blood plasma and serum from five donors. Analysis using nanoparticle tracking analysis and micro bicinchoninic acid protein assay revealed that a combined protocol utilizing ultrafiltration and size exclusion chromatography yielded the optimal vesicle enrichment and soluble protein removal. Western blotting was used to verify that the expected abundant blood proteins, including albumin and apolipoproteins, were depleted.

Here, we present a protocol to purify exosomes from both plasma and serum with reduced co-purification of non-exosomal blood proteins. The optimized protocol includes ultrafiltration, protease treatment, and size exclusion chromatography. Enhanced purification of exosomes benefits downstream analyses, including more accurate quantification of vesicles and proteomic characterization.

Exosomes, a type of nanovesicle released from all cell types, can be isolated from any bodily fluid. The contents of exosomes, including proteins and ...

Calibration-free In Vitro Quantification of Protein Homo-oligomerization Using Commercial Instrumentation and Free, Open Source Brightness Analysis Software

Number and brightness is a calibration-free fluorescence fluctuation spectroscopy (FFS) technique for detecting protein homo-oligomerization. It can be employed using a conventional confocal microscope equipped with digital detectors. A protocol for the use of the technique in vitro is shown by means of a use case where number and brightness can be seen to accurately quantify the oligomeric state of mVenus-labelled FKBP12F36V before and after the addition of the dimerizing drug AP20187. The importance of using the correct microscope acquisition parameters and the correct data preprocessing and analysis methods are discussed. In particular, the importance of the choice of photobleaching correction is stressed. This inexpensive method can be employed to study protein-protein interactions in many biological contexts.

Calibration-free In Vitro Quantification of Protein Homo-oligomerization Using Commercial Instrumentation and Free, Open Source Brightness Analysis Software

This protocol describes a calibration-free approach for quantifying protein homo-oligomerization in vitro based on fluorescence fluctuation spectroscopy using commercial light scanning microscopy. The correct acquisition settings and analysis methods are shown.

Number and brightness is a calibration-free fluorescence fluctuation spectroscopy (FFS) technique for detecting protein homo-oligomerization. It can be ...

High Sensitivity Measurement of Transcription Factor-DNA Binding Affinities by Competitive Titration Using Fluorescence Microscopy

Accurate quantification of transcription factor (TF)-DNA interactions is essential for understanding the regulation of gene expression. Since existing approaches suffer from significant limitations, we have developed a new method for determining TF-DNA binding affinities with high sensitivity on a large scale. The assay relies on the established fluorescence anisotropy (FA) principle but introduces important technical improvements. First, we measure a full FA competitive titration curve in a single well by incorporating TF and a fluorescently labeled reference DNA in a porous agarose gel matrix. Unlabeled DNA oligomer is loaded on the top as a competitor and, through diffusion, forms a spatio-temporal gradient. The resulting FA gradient is then read out using a customized epifluorescence microscope setup. This improved setup greatly increases the sensitivity of FA signal detection, allowing both weak and strong binding to be reliably quantified, even for molecules of similar molecular weights. In this fashion, we can measure one titration curve per well of a multi-well plate, and through a fitting procedure, we can extract both the absolute dissociation constant (KD) and active protein concentration. By testing all single-point mutation variants of a given consensus binding sequence, we can survey the entire binding specificity landscape of a TF, typically on a single plate. The resulting position weight matrices (PWMs) outperform those derived from other methods in predicting in vivo TF occupancy. Here, we present a detailed guide for implementing HiP-FA on a conventional automated fluorescent microscope and the data analysis pipeline.

Here we present a novel method for determining binding affinities at equilibrium and in solution with high sensitivity on a large scale. This improves the quantitative analysis of transcription factor-DNA binding. The method is based on automated fluorescence anisotropy measurements in a controlled delivery system.

Accurate quantification of transcription factor (TF)-DNA interactions is essential for understanding the regulation of gene expression. Since existing ...

Analysis of Protein Folding, Transport, and Degradation in Living Cells by Radioactive Pulse Chase

Radioactive pulse-chase labeling is a powerful tool for studying the conformational maturation, the transport to their functional cellular location, and the degradation of target proteins in live cells. By using short (pulse) radiolabeling times (&lt;30 min) and tightly controlled chase times, it is possible to label only a small fraction of the total protein pool and follow its folding. When combined with nonreducing/reducing SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and immunoprecipitation with (conformation-specific) antibodies, folding processes can be examined in great detail. This system has been used to analyze the folding of proteins with a huge variation in properties such as soluble proteins, single and multi-pass transmembrane proteins, heavily N- and O-glycosylated proteins, and proteins with and without extensive disulfide bonding. Pulse-chase methods are the basis of kinetic studies into a range of additional features, including co- and posttranslational modifications, oligomerization, and polymerization, essentially allowing the analysis of a protein from birth to death. Pulse-chase studies on protein folding are complementary with other biochemical and biophysical methods for studying proteins in vitro by providing increased temporal resolution and physiological information. The methods as described within this paper are adapted easily to study the folding of almost any protein that can be expressed in mammalian or insect-cell systems.

Here we describe a protocol for a general pulse-chase method that allows the kinetic analysis of folding, transport, and degradation of proteins to be followed in live cells.

Radioactive pulse-chase labeling is a powerful tool for studying the conformational maturation, the transport to their functional cellular location, and ...

Detection of Protein Ubiquitination Sites by Peptide Enrichment and Mass Spectrometry

The posttranslational modification of proteins by the small protein ubiquitin is involved in many cellular events. After tryptic digestion of ubiquitinated proteins, peptides with a diglycine remnant conjugated to the epsilon amino group of lysine (&#39;K-&#949;-diglycine&#39; or simply &#39;diGly&#39;) can be used to track back the original modification site. Efficient immunopurification of diGly peptides combined with sensitive detection by mass spectrometry has resulted in a huge increase in the number of ubiquitination sites identified up to date. We have made several improvements to this workflow, including offline high pH reverse-phase fractionation of peptides prior to the enrichment procedure, and the inclusion of more advanced peptide fragmentation settings in the ion routing multipole. Also, more efficient cleanup of the sample using a filter-based plug in order to retain the antibody beads results in a greater specificity for diGly peptides. These improvements result in the routine detection of more than 23,000 diGly peptides from human cervical cancer cells (HeLa) cell lysates upon proteasome inhibition in the cell. We show the efficacy of this strategy for in-depth analysis of the ubiquitinome profiles of several different cell types and of in vivo samples, such as brain tissue. This study presents an original addition to the toolbox for protein ubiquitination analysis to uncover the deep cellular ubiquitinome.

We present a method for the purification, detection, and identification of diGly peptides that originate from ubiquitinated proteins from complex biological samples. The presented method is reproducible, robust, and outperforms published methods with respect to the level of depth of the ubiquitinome analysis.

The posttranslational modification of proteins by the small protein ubiquitin is involved in many cellular events. After tryptic digestion of ...

Robust Comparison of Protein Levels Across Tissues and Throughout Development Using Standardized Quantitative Western Blotting

Western blotting is a technique that is commonly used to detect and quantify protein expression. Over the years, this technique has led to many advances in both basic and clinical research. However, as with many similar experimental techniques, the outcome of Western blot analyses is easily influenced by choices made in the design and execution of the experiment. Specific housekeeping proteins have traditionally been used to normalize protein levels for quantification, however, these have a number of limitations and have therefore been increasingly criticized over the past few years. Here, we describe a detailed protocol that we have developed to allow us to undertake complex comparisons of protein expression variation across different tissues, mouse models (including disease models), and developmental timepoints. By using a fluorescent total protein stain and introducing the use of an internal loading standard, it is possible to overcome existing limitations in the number of samples that can be compared within experiments and systematically compare protein levels across a range of experimental conditions. This approach expands the use of traditional western blot techniques, thereby allowing researchers to better explore protein expression across different tissues and samples.

This method describes a robust and reproducible approach for the comparison of protein levels in different tissues and at different developmental timepoints using a standardized quantitative western blotting approach.

Western blotting is a technique that is commonly used to detect and quantify protein expression. Over the years, this technique has led to many advances ...

Single-Step Enrichment of a TAP-Tagged Histone Deacetylase of the Filamentous Fungus Aspergillus nidulans for Enzymatic Activity Assay

Class 1 histone deacetylases (HDACs) like RpdA have gained importance as potential targets for treatment of fungal infections and for genome mining of fungal secondary metabolites. Inhibitor screening, however, requires purified enzyme activities. Since class 1 deacetylases exert their function as multiprotein complexes, they are usually not active when expressed as single polypeptides in bacteria. Therefore, endogenous complexes need to be isolated, which, when conventional techniques like ion exchange and size exclusion chromatography are applied, is laborious and time consuming. Tandem affinity purification has been developed as a tool to enrich multiprotein complexes from cells and thus turned out to be ideal for the isolation of endogenous enzymes. Here we provide a detailed protocol for the single-step enrichment of active RpdA complexes via the first purification step of C-terminally TAP-tagged RpdA from Aspergillus nidulans. The purified complexes may then be used for the subsequent inhibitor screening applying a deacetylase assay. The protein enrichment together with the enzymatic activity assay can be completed within two days.

Single-Step Enrichment of a TAP-Tagged Histone Deacetylase of the Filamentous Fungus Aspergillus nidulans for Enzymatic Activity Assay

Class 1 histone deacetylases (HDACs) like RpdA have gained importance as potential targets to treat fungal infections. Here we present a protocol for the specific enrichment of TAP-tagged RpdA combined with an HDAC activity assay that allows in vitro efficacy testing of histone deacetylase inhibitors.

Class 1 histone deacetylases (HDACs) like RpdA have gained importance as potential targets for treatment of fungal infections and for genome mining of ...

Kinase Inhibitor Screening In Self-assembled Human Protein Microarrays

The screening of kinase inhibitors is crucial for better understanding properties of a drug and for the identification of potentially new targets with clinical implications. Several methodologies have been reported to accomplish such screening. However, each has its own limitations (e.g., the screening of only ATP analogues, restriction to using purified kinase domains, significant costs associated with testing more than a few kinases at a time, and lack of flexibility in screening protein kinases with novel mutations). Here, a new protocol that overcomes some of these limitations and can be used for the unbiased screening of kinase inhibitors is presented. A strength of this method is its ability to compare the activity of kinase inhibitors across multiple proteins, either between different kinases or different variants of the same kinase. Self-assembled protein microarrays generated through the expression of protein kinases by a human-based in vitro transcription and translation system (IVTT) are employed. The proteins displayed on the microarray are active, allowing for measurement of the effects of kinase inhibitors. The following procedure describes the protocol steps in detail, from the microarray generation and screening to the data analysis.

A detailed protocol for the generation of self-assembled human protein microarrays for the screening of kinase inhibitors is presented.

The screening of kinase inhibitors is crucial for better understanding properties of a drug and for the identification of potentially new targets with ...

Enrichment of Detergent-insoluble Protein Aggregates from Human Postmortem Brain

Summary

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Chapters in this video

Protein Complex Affinity Capture from Cryomilled Mammalian Cells

Tandem Affinity Purification of Protein Complexes from Eukaryotic Cells

Protein Digestion, Ultrafiltration, and Size Exclusion Chromatography to Optimize the Isolation of Exosomes from Human Blood Plasma and Serum

Calibration-free In Vitro Quantification of Protein Homo-oligomerization Using Commercial Instrumentation and Free, Open Source Brightness Analysis Software

High Sensitivity Measurement of Transcription Factor-DNA Binding Affinities by Competitive Titration Using Fluorescence Microscopy

Analysis of Protein Folding, Transport, and Degradation in Living Cells by Radioactive Pulse Chase

Detection of Protein Ubiquitination Sites by Peptide Enrichment and Mass Spectrometry

Robust Comparison of Protein Levels Across Tissues and Throughout Development Using Standardized Quantitative Western Blotting

Single-Step Enrichment of a TAP-Tagged Histone Deacetylase of the Filamentous Fungus Aspergillus nidulans for Enzymatic Activity Assay

Kinase Inhibitor Screening In Self-assembled Human Protein Microarrays