ELISA is the most commonly used method of detecting and quantifying the concentration of an antigen in an unknown sample. During the experiment, If you get a weak signal, then make sure reagents are at room temperature before starting the assay. Try increasing incubation times to ensure maximal antibody binding and amplify the signal. Secondly, if you get values above 0 in the negative control indicates a high background signal. Try to consider reducing your antibody concentration and prevent non-specific binding of antibodies by using affinity-purified antibody and suitable blocking buffers. To avoid high well to well variation, do not stack plates during incubation, no bubbles in the plate and wash wells thoroughly to avoid variation.
ELISA is the most commonly used method of detecting and quantifying the concentration of an antigen in an unknown sample. During the experiment, If you get a weak signal, then make sure reagents are at room temperature before starting the assay. Try increasing incubation times to ensure maximal antibody binding and amplify the signal. Secondly, if you get values above 0 in the negative control indicates a high background signal. Try to consider reducing your antibody concentration and prevent non-specific binding of antibodies by using affinity-purified antibody and suitable blocking buffers. To avoid high well to well variation, do not stack plates during incubation, no bubbles in the plate and wash wells thoroughly to avoid variation.
As autophagy is a multi-step process which includes not just the formation of autophagosomes, but most importantly, flux through the entire system, including the degradation upon fusion with lysosomes, which makes it quite challenging for detection. There are several methods for detection in mammalian cells, including immunoblotting analysis of LC3 and p62 and detection of autophagosome formation/maturation by fluorescence microscopy, Currently, there is no single “gold standard” for determining the autophagic activity that is applicable in every experimental context, hence it is recommended to go for the combined use of multiple methods to accurately assess the autophagic activity in any given biological setting.
RNA-Seq is a method to sequence RNA by applying Next Generation Sequencing (NGS). The quality of RNA is critical for the success of RNA-Seq. The integrity of RNA is measured by the RNA integrity number (RIN). RIN is computed from RNA electrophoresis and electropherogram profiles (the peak area of the 28S rRNA should be approximately twice the peak area of the 18S rRNA). If you get the RIN value lower than 7, the possibility of getting the low quality of RNA-seq data is high. To get a high quality RNA, it is better to work with fresh samples or snap-freeze the tissues in liquid nitrogen as quickly as possible and store them at -80°C until further use. Make sure designated areas and all your filter tips, microfuge tubes, plastic, and glassware are RNase-free.
RNA-Seq is a method to sequence RNA by applying Next Generation Sequencing (NGS). The quality of RNA is critical for the success of RNA-Seq. The integrity of RNA is measured by the RNA integrity number (RIN). RIN is computed from RNA electrophoresis and electropherogram profiles (the peak area of the 28S rRNA should be approximately twice the peak area of the 18S rRNA). If you get the RIN value lower than 7, the possibility of getting the low quality of RNA-seq data is high. To get a high quality RNA, it is better to work with fresh samples or snap-freeze the tissues in liquid nitrogen as quickly as possible and store them at -80°C until further use. Make sure designated areas and all your filter tips, microfuge tubes, plastic, and glassware are RNase-free.
RNA-Seq is a method to sequence RNA by applying Next Generation Sequencing (NGS). The quality of RNA is critical for the success of RNA-Seq. The integrity of RNA is measured by the RNA integrity number (RIN). RIN is computed from RNA electrophoresis and electropherogram profiles (the peak area of the 28S rRNA should be approximately twice the peak area of the 18S rRNA). If you get the RIN value lower than 7, the possibility of getting the low quality of RNA-seq data is high. To get a high quality RNA, it is better to work with fresh samples or snap-freeze the tissues in liquid nitrogen as quickly as possible and store them at -80°C until further use. Make sure designated areas and all your filter tips, microfuge tubes, plastic, and glassware are RNase-free.
Protein isolation is a technique that involves isolation and/ or purification of protein from cells or tissues via chromatography or electrophoresis. The major challenges in protein isolation include: 1. The concentration of proteins in cells is variable and tends to be small for some intracellular proteins. Unlike nucleic acids, proteins cannot be amplified. 2. Proteins are more unstable than nucleic acids. They are easily denatured under suboptimal temperature, pH or salt concentrations. 3. Finally, no generalized technique/protocol can be applied for protein isolation. Proteins may have different electrostatic (number of positively or negatively charged amino acids) or hydrophobic properties. Therefore, protein purification requires multiple steps depending on their charge (a negatively charged resin/column for positively charged proteins and vice-versa), dissolution (using detergents) and unlike in the case of DNA and RNA, instead of using salts, proteins should be isolated by isoelectric precipitation.
The process of RNA extraction from bacteria, in general, involves an RNA-protective, effective lysis of bacterial cell wall (which may pose difficulties). EDTA promotes loss of outer membrane to provide lysozyme with access to peptidoglycan. Another common method for cell wall lysis is mechanical disruption using a homogenizer (applied for gram-positive bacteria and some strains of gram-negative bacteria). Following lysis, it is necessary to disrupt protein-nucleic acid interactions, which can be achieved by adding sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). Next step involves using phenol-chloroform-isoamyl alcohol extraction, where RNA can be obtained from the bottom organic phase, the top phase consists of DNA and the interphase contains proteins. Isoamyl alcohol is an inert and optional addition to this mixture and is added as an anti-foaming reagent to reduce the interphase. Following RNA extraction, the samples should be checked for its quality by gel electrophoresis (23S and 16S rRNAs and 5s rRNA and tRNA bands) or UV spectrophotometric or fluorescence methods.
Flow cytometry is an immunophenotyping technique whereby sing cell suspensions are stained for either cell surface markers or intracellular proteins by fluorescently-labelled antibodies and analyzed with a flow cytometer, where fluorescently-labelled molecules are excited by the laser to emit light at varying wavelengths, which is then detected by the instrument. There are several key criteria which are required to be kept in mind while designing a flow experiment- 1. Antibody titration (optimal dilution of antibodies should be calculated in order to avoid over- or under- saturated signals for proper detection of surface and intracellular markers), 2. Precision (3 or more replicates of the sample should be used per experiment), 3. Specificity (proper isotype controls should be included in the experiment), 4. Day-to-day variability (experiments should be repeated 3 or more times to ensure consistency and avoid variability due to flow cytometer settings), 5. Antibody interaction (Fluorescence minus one or FMO should be used, which is the comparison of signals from panel minus one antibody vs. the full panel), and 6. Antibody stability (fluorescently-labelled antibodies should be stored at 4C).
Flow cytometry is an immunophenotyping technique whereby sing cell suspensions are stained for either cell surface markers or intracellular proteins by fluorescently-labelled antibodies and analyzed with a flow cytometer, where fluorescently-labelled molecules are excited by the laser to emit light at varying wavelengths, which is then detected by the instrument. There are several key criteria which are required to be kept in mind while designing a flow experiment- 1. Antibody titration (optimal dilution of antibodies should be calculated in order to avoid over- or under- saturated signals for proper detection of surface and intracellular markers), 2. Precision (3 or more replicates of the sample should be used per experiment), 3. Specificity (proper isotype controls should be included in the experiment), 4. Day-to-day variability (experiments should be repeated 3 or more times to ensure consistency and avoid variability due to flow cytometer settings), 5. Antibody interaction (Fluorescence minus one or FMO should be used, which is the comparison of signals from panel minus one antibody vs. the full panel), and 6. Antibody stability (fluorescently-labelled antibodies should be stored at 4C).
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