Embryo proteins from single

Immunoblotting of Proteins from Single Drosophila Embryos ... 

The protocol described above requires fixation in order to determine division cycle stage. Two methods have been used for studying native proteins from single Drosophila embryos and are summarized below. For detailed protocols, consult original papers. 

The hmnan body s entire system of a billion or more cells develops from a single cell—the egg fertilized by the sperm. As this cell divides to form all the different tissues and structures of the growing fetus, the daughter cells become specialized in the kinds of proteins they produce. Think of the entire set of genes as inherited instructions to form more than 100,000 proteins when and where they are needed. Going from the single-cell embryo to the enormous collection of specialized cells that make up our body is an... 

Most of the aforementioned donor cells are derived from different types of stem cells. AU stem cells - whether from adult or embryonic sources - share a number of properties [24]. First, they are capable of self-renewal, which means that they can generate stem cells with similar properties. Second, the stem cells are clonogenic, which means that each cell can form a colony in which all the cells are derived from this single cell and have identical genetic constitution. Third, they are capable of differentiation into one or more mature cell types. The different stem cells can be categorized anatomically, functionally, or by cell surface markers, transcription factors, and the proteins they express. One clear division of the stem cell family is between those in adult somatic tissue (known as adult stem cells) and those isolated from the embryo (known as embryonic stem cells) (see Part I, Chapter 11). 

This example shows that CSE-MEKC can separate and detect over 100 different cellular components in a single mouse embryo and could potentially be used to semiquantitatively compare protein expression levels in individual cells from a heterogeneous cell population. Though nonspecific, the use of fluorescence derivatization and detection greatly increased the sensitivity and dynamic range... 

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