Techniques Flashcards
what is the first step in isolating cells?
disrupt the extracellular matrix and cell-cell junction
how would you disrupt the extracellular matrix and cell-cell junction?
proteolytic enzymes and agitation
how do proteolytic enzymes disrupt the extracellular matrix and cell-cell junction?
it digests proteins that bind on calcium, on which cell-cell adhesion depends on. then use mesh nets to grind into single cells.
do cells usually circulate?
no, except for immune cells, they are part of tissue and are embedded in the extracellular matrix.
what is a FACs and what is its function?
fluorescence-activated cell sorter. it helps separate a specific cell from a mixedcell suspension
how does a FACs work?
an antibody with fluoresent dye added for the specific cell wanted gets attached to the cell. the cells pass through a laser in a single stream and the fluorescence is measured. the cells are given a +/- charge depending on its fluorescence. then they are moved to their correct containers using a strong magnetic field.
what are antibodies?
proteins made by B cells that bind with something, contain 2 heavy and 2 light chains
do different B cells make a different antibody?
yes
how is amino acid sequence determined in antibodies?
it’s random
does the body keep all of its antibodies?
no, it deletes the ones that react to the body itself and keeps the ones that dont react
what is a monoclonal antibody?
antibody secreted by a hybridoma cell line.
what is a hybridoma?
Hybrid cell line generated by fusion of a tumor cell and another cell type. are immortal.
what do cells need to grow?
attachment (something like extracellular matrix), nutrients, correct temperature, pH, and humidity
what are in nutrients for cell growth?
salt and pH balanced (usually colored to see if pH balanced). has calf serum that contains growth factors.
how is humidity controlled in those cell growy things?
water in a a low tray
how is pH controlled i those cell growy things?
CO2 is pumped in. sodium bicarbonate inside makes a buffer
what is the optimum temperature of cell growth?
37C
what is confluency?
too many cells growing on a petri dish
what is passaging or splitting cells?
take cells from a petri dish and transfer them onto another plate
what are primary culture/cells?
cells taken from a live animal. as close to as real cells. won’t last too long bc when its outside the body it can’t get the right signals
what are established cell lines?
immortalized cells, can grow forever in cell culture
what is HeLa?
isolated tumor cells from a women who died
what are the steps of protein purification?
- break open the cells
- separation of sub-cellular fractions
- separation of proteins
what are some ways to break open cells?
blender, ultrasound vibration, osmotic shock, forced through a small orifice ;)
what is osmotic shock?
cells “pop” due to osmotic pressure
what is centrifugation?
an instrument that rotates extracts of broken cells at high speeds
describe the common centrifuge.
the slots in the motor are at an angle and causes the pellet to sediment on the bottom sides
describe the swinging-bucket rotor.
the rotor has hinges and so when it spins, the samples are spun horizontally. pellet is strictly sediment ed on the bottom.
why does a centrifuge need a vacuum?
when the rotor spins it will hit the air molecules causing the instrument to heat up. if it heats up, the sample will also heat up and denature. the vacuum gets rid of the air molecules to reduce friction
why does a centrifuge need to be balanced with samples?
itll hurt the poor rotor :(
how do you use a centrifuge to do organelle fractionation?
repeat the centrifugation at higher and higher speeds (whole cells, nuclei, cytoskeletons -> mitochondria, lysosomes, peroxisomes ->microsomes, small vesicles -> ribosomes, viruses, large macromolecules)
what is velocity sedimentation?
layering the sample in a thin band on top of a sucrose gradient, various components move down as distinct bands at different times. separates by size AND shape
why is a sucrose gradient needed?
to prevent the bands from convective mixing, to keep each region denser than the one above it.
what is column chromatography?
a mixture of proteins in a solution is passed through a column containing a porous solid matrix
how are proteins separated by the matrix?
different proteins interact differently with the matrix and thus go through it at different rates