Lecture 3 and 4: Cell Biology Techniques, Part I and II Flashcards
What is whole cell lysate?
collection of cells produces cell lysate which is single cell suspension of desired cells
How does whole cell lysate become cell lysate?
Through lysis buffer (or any detergent)
What is cell lysate/homogenate/extract?
Sample after adding lysis buffer for plasma membranes disrupted and sample has all cellular components
What is cell fractionation?
separate cellular components from one another and isolate organelles via centrifuge
Cell fractionation is not used to ______ but to _______
isolate specific proteins; segregate different cellular components from a cell lysate
Second higher speed centrifugation:
Pellet contains mitochondria, cytosol, and other organelles
Cell fractionation use centrifuge to spin at _____ to pul down heavier molecules
different speeds
First low speed centrifugation results:
Pellet contains nuclei
Supernatant contains cytosolic proteins and organelles
The purpose of cell fractionation is to
evaluate 3 types of proteins and reduce complexity of sample
3 types of proteins resulted in cell fractionation:
- Cell lysate: all proteins
- Nuclear proteins: proteins found only in nucleus
- Cytosolic proteins: all proteins outside of nucleus
What is SDS-Page?
Separates protein in a mixture by size and allows to analyze proteins in cell lysate or cell fractionation samples
SDS Page contains:
SDS: detergent that denatures proteins and coats proteins with negative charge
Beta-mercaptoethanol (BME): reducing agent that eliminates disulfide bridges
Why is negative charge by SDS important in gel electrophoresis?
negative charge pulls down protein and allow for all proteins to have uniform charge
After SDS-PAGE, what are the options to analyze?
- Coomassie blue
- Western blot
What is coomassie blue?
Stain to detect and visualize all proteins in gel as stain binds to basic amino acids
What is the purpose of coomassie blue?
- ensure cell lysates from different samples have equal protein loading
- determine if protein was successfully purified
How is Western blot technique performed?
- Use SDS Page gel to separate protein mixture in sample
- Transfer separated proteins from gel to membrane
- Primary antibody recognizes specific protein on membrane
- Secondary antibody binds to primary antibody and used for visualization, more signal on membrane indicates more protein in cell
Purpose of Western blot
Measuring amount of specific protein with antibodies
How are Coomassie blue and Western blot similar and different
Similiar: both analyze proteins after SDS PAGE
Differ: comasie is nonspecific stain while western blot is specific
What are antibodies useful for?
Useful as they recognize bacteria, viruses, and other foreign molecules that cause harm
What is protein structure of antibodies?
- composed of 4 polypeptide chains with quaternary structure, consisting of 2 identical light and 2 identical heavy chains
- have disulfide bridges helping with tertiary and quaternary structure (inter and intra disulfide chains)
Does an antibody have a binding site?
Has 2 binding sites (Vh and Vc) which can bind to an antigen
What is an antigen?
substance that stimulates immune response
How are antibodies naturally made?
- B cells which are circulating around the body are immune cells that make antibodies
- Each B cell makes unique antibody that recognzies specific antigen via antigen binding sites
- Antigens bind to B cells, causing B cell to produce antibodies
- When antibody binds to antigen, B cells are activated and divide and antibodies are secreted
What happens to secreted antibodies?
Bind to antigens and target them for destruction by immune cells
What are polyclonal antibodies
mixture of antibodies that bind to different places on same antigen