Protein assay procedure

The protein content was determined using a commercial assay kit (Bio-Rad Protein Assay kit) with Bovine Serum Albumin as standard, following the procedure described by Bradford [13]. 

Fluorescent labels, by contrast, can provide tremendous sensitivity due to their property of discrete emission of light upon excitation. Proteins, nucleic acids, and other molecules can be labeled with fluorescent probes to provide highly receptive reagents for numerous in vitro assay procedures. For instance, fluorescently tagged antibodies can be used to probe cells and tissues for the presence of particular antigens, and then detected through the use of fluorescence microscopy techniques. Since each probe has its own fluorescence emission character, more... 

Typical protein precipitation procedures use one volume of plasma plus three to six volumes of acetonitrile or methanol (or a mixture) with the internal standard at an appropriate concentration for the assay. Poison et al.102 reported that protein precipitation using acetonitrile eliminates at least 95% of the proteins after filtration or centrifugation, the supernatant can often be directly injected into the HPLC/MS/MS system. Usually this step is performed using 96-well plates that are ideal for semi-automation of sample preparation. Briem et al.103 reported on a robotic sample preparation system for plasma based on a protein precipitation step and a robotic liquid handling system that increased throughput by a factor of four compared to a manual system. 

A standard Lowry-based protein assay has been adjusted to the special conditions encountered with skin [126], Basically, proteins reduce an alkaline solution of Cu(II)-tartrate to Cu(I) in a concentration-dependent manner. Then, the formation of a blue complex between Folin-Ciocalteau reagent (a solution of complex polymeric ions formed from phosphomolybdic and phosphotungstic heteropoly acids) and Cu(I) can be measured spectrophotometrically at 750 nm. A calibration curve can be obtained by dissolving known amounts of stratum corneum in 1 M sodium hydroxide. A piece of tape that has not been in contact with skin is subjected to an identical procedure and serves as negative control. The method was recently adapted to a 96-well plate format, notably reducing analysis times [129],... 

As described in the following chapter, there are many biopharmaceutical applications of protein assays. Assigning the protein concentration for the drug substance, drug product, or in-process sample is often the first task for subsequent analytical procedures because assays for purity, potency, or identity require that the protein concentration be known. Hence it is typical for several different methods to be employed under the umbrella of protein concentration measurement, depending on the requirements of speed, selectivity, or throughput. The protein concentration is valuable as a stand-alone measurement for QC and stability of a protein. However, protein concentration methods provide no valuable... 

Since the BCA protein assay is not a true end-point assay, the amount of color produced varies with the incubation time and the incubation temperature. While this allows considerable flexibility in optimizing the BCA assay for each application, it also requires that the optimized procedure be followed exactly every time the assay is done. 

Describes a procedure using trichloroacetic acid and sodium deoxycholate to precipitate protein and thus remove soluble substances in the sample that would otherwise interfere in the BCA protein assay. 

During a protein purification procedure there are two measurements that need to be made, preferably for each fraction. Measurements of the amount of total protein and of the amount (usually bioactivity) of the desired protein both must be made. It is not possible to isolate a protein without a method of determining whether it is present an assay, either quantitative or at least semiquantitative, indicating which fraction contains the most of the desired protein is essential. 

M NaCl, pH 7.2, containing 10 mM EDTA as the buffer. To obtain efficient separation between the reduced antibody and excess reductant, the sample size applied to the column should be at a ratio of no more than 5% sample volume to the total column volume. Collect 0.5-ml fractions and monitor for protein at 280 nm. To monitor the separation of the second peak (excess Traut s reagent), the BCA protein assay reagent (Pierce) may be used according to the procedure described in the previous section, protocol step 4. 

Lectins, or proteins with specific binding sites for carbohydrates, can be used as targeting molecules to localize particular glycoconjugates such as glycoproteins or glycolipids on cell surfaces (Fig. 373). Labeled with gold particles, lectins are important probes for detection of cell surface components and intracellular receptors and in immunological or biochemical assay procedures (Bog-Hansen et al., 1978 Kimura et al., 1979 Nicolson, 1978 Roth, 1983 Benhamou et al., 1988 Nakajima et al., 1988). 

Purification protocols should always aim for brevity, to minimize complexity and cost. The goal of the protein purification procedure, besides a pure protein, is a purification table listing all the operations undertaken, with results on overall yield, specific activity, and purification factor. An assay for both protein function and protein concentration is required at every step. 

The most frequently used protein assay is based on a method after Bradford (Bradford, 1976), which combines a fast and easily performed procedure with reliable results. However, the Bradford assay has sensitivity limitations and its accuracy depends on comparison of the protein to be analyzed with a standard curve using a protein of known concentration, commonly bovine serum albumin (BSA). Many commercially available protein assays such as those from Pierce or BioRad rely on the Bradford method. The assay is based on the immediate absorbance shift from 465 nm (brownish-green) to 595 nm (blue) that occurs when the dye Coomassie Brilliant Blue G-250 binds to proteins in an acidic solution. Coomassie dye-based assays are known for their non-linear response over a wide range of protein concentrations, requiring comparison with a standard. The dye is assumed to bind to protein via an electrostatic attraction of the dye s sulfonic groups, principally to arginine, histidine, and lysine residues. It also binds weakly to the aromatic amino acids, tyrosine, tryptophan, and phenylalanine via van der Waals forces and hydrophobic interactions. 

Another method consists of a spectroscopic measurement of Comassie brilliant blue stained SC protein directly on the tape.17 In contrast with the colorimetric method described earlier, this method does not require any SC extraction procedure prior to protein assay. However, it has been shown to be variable and not appropriate for quantitative determination since the absorbance of colored SC proteins is negligible as compared to light scattering of the SC material adhering to tape strips. 

The Folin-Ciocalteau Assay of Protein Concentration. The Folin-Ciocalteau assay is one of the most sensitive and most commonly used assays to determine protein concentration (sensitive to about 10 /rg/m I protein). This procedure employs two color-forming reactions to assay protein concentration photometrically. In the first reaction (a biuret reaction), compounds with two or more peptide bonds form a dark blue-purple color in the presence of alkaline copper salts. In the second reaction, tryptophan and tyrosine side chains react with the Folin solution to produce cuprous ions. This reaction is most efficient under basic condi-... 

The following procedure will be used for all protein assays performed in this experiment. Because of day-to-day variation in the assay, you must prepare a standard curve each day that you perform the Folin-Ciocalteau assay. 

Hence, although the specific numerical values reported for ATPase rates of stress-70 proteins show some variation, possibly attributable to differences in specific protein preparation and assay procedures utilized by different individuals, the consensus scheme that these data show is that in the absence of substrate peptide, the stress-70 proteins have a low basal ATPase rate, typically found to be 0.01-0.03 (mol ATP/mol stress-70 protein min). This can be enhanced severalfold either by binding of peptides or denatured proteins, or (as demonstrated by the effect of grpE and dnaJ proteins on dnaK) by the action of ancillary proteins. To the extent that the observations on HSC70 can be generalized to other members of the stress-70 protein family, peptide binding appears to relieve the attenuation of ATPase activity and allow it to proceed at the rate characteristic of the ATPase fragment of the protein alone. 

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