Lab Skills Flashcards
Why was a Lowry assay carried out?
To determine a protein concentration in unknown solutions
The Lowry assay causes a colour change. How does this colour change occur?
You need the protein to interact with the solutions, and you need all reagents for the colour change to occur
Why was tissue culture carried out?
To passage cells, allowing the cells more space to grow, give them more nutrients, and keep them alive
Why will cells die if they aren’t passaged?
They release a toxin when they can’t grow anymore
What was contained in DMEM used for passaging cells?
Media
GlutaMAX
Foetal Bovine Serum
1% sodium pyruvate
1% pen/strep
Magnesium and calcium
What does GlutaMAX do to the cells?
It is an amino acid
What does foetal bovine serum do?
It provides nutrients and proteins and inhibits trypsin
Why was pen/strep in the DMEM solution?
To prevent contamination
What do Mg and Ca do?
Inhibits trypsin
Why was PBS used for the passaging of cells?
If you put water on the cells they will burst, and if you add anything with Mg or Ca it will inhibit trypsin
What does trypsin EDTA do?
Collates divalent cations
Why was the incubator set to 37˚C and 5% CO2?
This mimics the mammalian conditions under which cells grow, and the cells used were mammalian cells, ensuring that they have optimal growth
What colour does the media turn under acidic and alkaline conditions?
Acidic conditions - media turns yellow
Alkaline conditions - media turns pink
What does PCR do?
Amplifies segments of DNA
Name some uses of PCR
Crime scene evidence
Genotyping
Paternity testing
Cloning
Testing for viruses
What does dNTP do in PCR?
Helps build the new strand of DNA
What do primers do in PCR?
Help identify the sequence you are trying to amplify
What does MgCl2 do in PCR?
It is involved in buffering. Different concentrations are required depending on the primer used
What does the reaction buffer do in PCR?
It contains different salts and alongside MgCl2 helps the reaction occur
What does Taq Polymerase do in PCR?
It is an enzyme that catalyses the reaction
What are the steps of PCR?
Step 1 = denaturation. 95˚C for 1 minute, allows hydrogen bonds to break and DNA strands to separate
Step 2 = annealing. Lower temperature for 30 seconds to allow the primers to attach
Step 3 = Elongation and extension. 72˚C for 1 minute, allows Taq polymerase to make new strands of DNA
Repeated for 30-40 cycles
What stages in PCR may be variable?
The temperature for the annealing phase
The time for the elongation and extension phase
How many primers do you need for PCR and why?
At least 2 primers
Need to have a forward primer and a backwards primer
How did we determine whether there was WT or mutant DNA when we carried out PCR?
By putting the DNA on gel. The fragments are separated by size.
By looking at the weight of the product you could determine whether it was WT or mutant
What tells you the sizes of DNA fragments in PCR run on a gel?
The ladder
When running a gel after PCR, things run towards the negative/positive charge?
Positive charge
When running a gel after PCR, light/heavy things go further?
Light
Why is it important to not leave the gel running for too long for analysis after PCR?
You may lose the lightest DNA fragments