Mosemartens0984

Ratiometric reporters are tools to dynamically measure the relative abundance of a protein of interest. In these systems, a target protein fused to a fluorescent or bioluminescent reporter is expressed with fixed stoichiometry to a reference protein fused to a second reporter. Both fusion proteins are encoded on a single transcript but are separated during translation by a 2A "self-cleaving" peptide. This approach enables changes in the relative abundance of a target protein to be detected sensitively, reducing variability in expression of the ratiometric reporter transgene that may occur across different tissues or transformation events. We recently developed a set of Gateway-compatible plant transformation vectors termed pRATIO that combine a variety of promoters, fluorescent and bioluminescent reporters, and 2A peptides derived from foot-and-mouth disease virus. Here, we describe in detail how to use the dual-fluorescent ratiometric reporter pRATIO3212 to examine the relative abundance of a target protein after transient expression in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves. For this example, we analyze degradation of the SUPPRESSOR OF MAX2 1 (SMAX1) protein from Arabidopsis thaliana in response to treatments with karrikins and rac-GR24. This protocol provides a simple, rapid, and readily scalable method for in vivo analysis of relative protein abundance in Agrobacterium-infiltrated Nicotiana leaf tissues.Human neuron transplantation offers novel opportunities for modeling human neurologic diseases and potentially replacement therapies. However, the complex structure of the human cerebral cortex, which is organized in six layers with tightly interconnected excitatory and inhibitory neuronal networks, presents significant challenges for in vivo transplantation techniques to obtain a balanced, functional and homeostatically stable neuronal network. Here, we present a protocol to introduce human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived neural progenitors to rat brains. Using this approach, hiPSC-derived neurons structurally integrate into the rat forebrain, exhibit electrophysiological characteristics, including firing, excitatory and inhibitory synaptic activity, and establish neuronal connectivity with the host circuitry.Modern microscopy methods are powerful tools for studying live cell signaling and biochemical reactions, enabling us to observe when and where these reactions take place from the level of a cell down to single molecules. With microscopy, each cell or molecule can be observed both before and after a given perturbation, facilitating better inference of cause and effect than is possible with destructive modes of signaling quantitation. As many inputs to cell signaling and biochemical systems originate as protein-protein interactions near the cell membrane, an outstanding challenge lies in controlling the timing, location and the magnitude of protein-protein interactions in these unique environments. Here, we detail our procedure for manipulating such spatial and temporal protein-protein interactions in a closed microscopy system using a LOVTRAP-based light-responsive protein-protein interaction system on a supported lipid bilayer. The system responds in seconds and can pattern details down to the one micron level. We used this technique to unlock fundamental aspects of T cell signaling, and this approach is generalizable to many other cell signaling and biochemical contexts.Determining the neuronal circuitry responsible for specific behaviors is a major focus in the field of neurobiology. Activity-dependent immediate early genes (IEGs), transcribed and translated shortly after neurons discharge action potentials, have been used extensively to either identify or gain genetic access to neurons and brain regions involved in such behaviors. By using immunohistochemistry for the protein product of the IEG c-Fos combined with retrograde labeling of specific neuronal populations, precise experimental timing, and identical data acquisition and processing, we present a method to quantitatively identify specific neuronal subpopulations that were active during social encounters. We have previously used this method to show a stronger recruitment of ventral hippocampal neurons that project to the medial prefrontal cortex, compared to those that project to the lateral hypothalamus, following social interactions. After optimization of surgeries for the injection of retrograde tracers, this method will be useful for the identification and mapping of neuronal populations engaged in many different behaviors.Malaria remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality globally. Clinical symptoms of the disease arise from the growth and multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within the blood of the host. Thus in vitro assays to determine how drug, antibody and genetic perturbations affect the growth rate of Plasmodium parasites are essential for the development of new therapeutics and improving our understanding of parasite biology. As both P. falciparum and P. knowlesi can be maintained in culture with human red blood cells, the effect of antimalarial drugs and inhibitory antibodies that target the invasion capacity of Plasmodium parasites are routinely investigated by using multiplication assays or growth inhibition assays against these two species. This protocol gives detailed step-by-step procedures to carry out flow cytometry-based multiplication assays and growth inhibition activity assays to test neutralizing antibodies based on the activity of the parasite enzyme lactate dehydrogenase of Plasmodium knowlesi adapted to human red blood cell culture. Whilst similar assays are well established for P. falciparum, P. knowlesi is more closely related to all other human infective species ( Pacheco et al., 2018 ) and so can be used as a surrogate for testing drugs and vaccines for other malaria species such as P. vivax, which is the most widespread cause of malaria outside of Africa, but cannot yet be cultured under laboratory conditions.An important but often overlooked aspect of gene regulation occurs at the level of protein translation. Many genes are regulated not only by transcription but by their propensity to be recruited to actively translating ribosomes (polysomes). Polysome profiling allows for the separation of unbound 40S and 60S subunits, 80S monosomes, and actively translating mRNA bound by two or more ribosomes. selleck inhibitor Thus, this technique allows for actively translated mRNA to be isolated. Transcript abundance can then be compared between actively translated mRNA and all mRNA present in a sample to identify instances of post-transcriptional regulation. Additionally, polysome profiling can be used as a readout of global translation rates by quantifying the proportion of actively translating ribosomes within a sample. Previously established protocols for polysome profiling rely on the absorbance of RNA to visualize the presence of polysomes within the fractions. However, with the advent of flow cells capable of detecting fluorescence, the association of fluorescently tagged proteins with polysomes can be detected and quantified in addition to the absorbance of RNA.