Western Blot with Platelet Protein

1. Prepare platelets.
2. Lyse washed platelets (10⁹ platelets/ml) with 1ml of ice-cold complete lysis buffer. Let to stay for 30min on ice.
3. Remove debris by centrifugation at 100,000 g for 15 min.
4. Measure the total protein concentration by a Lowry assay (Lowry et al, 1951).[ read more ]
5. Add either reducing or non-reducing sample buffer to a protein probe. Mix well. Boil for 5 min. Centrifuge for 10 min. at 14 000 rpm (100,000g) (ultracentrifuge) if needed.
6. Prepare and load the running gel. Afterwards, prepare and load stacking gel. Use a comb to form loading "wells" for samples of proteins.
7. Place the gel into the current field (20 mA per stacking gel, 30 mA per running gel)
8. Transfer proteins to Hybond ECL Nitrocellulose membranes (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, England) (200 mA-1 A, 2 hours).
9. Sink in Ponceau S solution. Get rid of the Ponceau S solution by washing with ddH2O.
10. Block membranes for 1 hour at room temperature with PBS containing 5% dried nonfat milk.
11. Wash 1x15 min and 2x5 min in PBS containing 0.05% Tween-20
12. Incubate overnight at 4ѓC with the first Ab in PBS containing 5% dried nonfat milk.
13. Wash 1x15 min and 2x5 min in PBS containing 0.05% Tween-20
14. Incubate for 1 hour at room temperature with the right dilution of revealing antibody conjugated to horse-radish peroxidase.
15. Wash 1x15 min and 2x5 min in PBS containing 0.05% Tween-20
16. Reveal bound antibodies with ECL western blotting detection reagents (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, England) according to the manufacturer's instructions. Visualize the chemoluminiscence with the X-Ray film.

1. complete lysis buffer = 50 mM Tris HCl, 150 mM NaCl, 1mM EDTA, 1% triton X-100, 10% glycerol, 1 mM NaF, 1 µg/ml pepstatin A, 1 µg/ml aprotinin, 1 µg/ml leupeptin, 1 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, pH 7.4.
2. running gel (lower), V=20 ml

   substance/gel conc./ %	5%	7%	10%
   acrylamid/bis-, 40%	2.5 ml	3.52 ml	5 ml
   ddH2O	11.7 ml	10.68 ml	9.2 ml
   lower TRIS	5 ml	5 ml	5 ml
   glycerol 50%, wtare sol.	0.4 ml	0.4 ml	0.4 ml
   Temed	25 µl	25 µl	25 µl
   Ammonium persulfate, 1%	0.8 ml	0.8 ml	0.8 ml

3. stacking gel (upper), 3%

   substance	amount
   acrylamid/bis-, 40%	1.2 ml
   ddH2O	10 ml
   upper TRIS	4 ml
   TEMED	16 µl
   Ammonium persulfate, 1%	0.8 ml

4. upper TRIS, 500 ml, water sol., pH 6.8 , store at 4ѓC, use at RT = tris-HCl, 30.3 g (0.5 M) + SDS, 2 g (0.4% final)
5. lower TRIS, 500 ml, water sol., pH 8.8, store at 4ѓC, use at RT = tris, 90.85 g (1.5 M) + SDS, 2 g (0.4 % final)
6. sample buffer, 50 ml, store at -20ѓC, use at RT

   substance/ conc., times	x2	x3
   glycerol	10 ml	15 ml
   SDS	3 g	4.5 g
   upper TRIS	12.5 ml	18.75 ml
   bromphenol blue	10-40 mg	50 mg
   ddH2O	up to 50 ml	up to 50 ml
   b-mercaptoethanol(only for reducing-conditions)	5 ml	7.5 ml

7. running buffer (tank), x10, 1 L, water solution, do not correct pH, store at 4ѓC, use at RT = tris base, 30.3 g (0.25 M) + glycine, 144.1 g (1.92 M) + SDS, 10 g (1% final).
8. running buffer x1, 1 L = 100 ml of running buffer x 10 + ddH2O, 900 ml
9. transfer buffer, x10, 1 L, water solution, pH 8.3 (do not correct pH), store at 4ѓC, use at RT = tris base, 14.54 g (120 mM) + glycine, 72 g (960 mM)
10. transfer buffer, x1, 1 L = transfer buffer, x10, 100 ml (10% final)+ methanol (extra), 200 ml (20% final) + ddH2O, 700 ml
11. Ponceau S, 1 L, keep at RT = Ponceau S, 1g + acetic acid (glacial), 50 ml + ddH2O, up to 1 L
12. Coomassie dye, 1 L , keep at RT , dark = Coomassie Blue R-250; 1g + C2H5OH (extra), 400 ml + Acetic Acid (glacial), 100 ml + ddH2O, up to 1L
13. Decoloration solution, keep at RT = CH3OH, 500 ml + Acetic Acid (glacial), 100 ml + ddH2O, up to 1 L
14. PBS-tween 20 = 2 L of PBS + 1 ml of tween 20

1. When gel is run in duplicate, the second gel could be used for Coomassie staining for 5-10 min in Coomoasie solution followed by decolorant solution incubation for 2 min.
2. [ read more ] about gel electrophoresis of proteins and staining prcedure from Amersham Biosciences.

1. Lowry, O. H., Rosebrough, N. J., Farr, A. L. and Randall, R. J. Protein measurement with folin phenol reagent. J. Biol. Chem. 1951. 193: 265-275.
2. Schägger, H., and von Jagow, G. Anal. Biochem. 166, 368с379 (1987). Westermeier, R. Electrophoresis in Practice 2nd ed. VCH, Weinheim, Germany (1997).
3. Shi, Q. One-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. In Gel Electrophoresis of Proteins: A Practical Approach 3rd ed. (Hames, B. D., ed.), Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 1с52 (1998).