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Molgaard S, Ulrichsen M, Olsen D, et al. Detection of phosphorylated Akt and MAPK in cell culture assays. MethodsX. 2016;3:386-98doi: 10.1016/j.mex.2016.04.009.
Molgaard, S., Ulrichsen, M., Olsen, D., & Glerup, S. (2016). Detection of phosphorylated Akt and MAPK in cell culture assays. MethodsX, 3386-98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mex.2016.04.009
Molgaard, Simon, et al. "Detection of phosphorylated Akt and MAPK in cell culture assays." MethodsX vol. 3 (2016): 386-98. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mex.2016.04.009
Molgaard S, Ulrichsen M, Olsen D, Glerup S. Detection of phosphorylated Akt and MAPK in cell culture assays. MethodsX. 2016 Apr 29;3:386-98. doi: 10.1016/j.mex.2016.04.009. eCollection 2016. PMID: 27274457; PMCID: PMC4885140.
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MethodsX. 2016 Apr 29;3:386-98. doi: 10.1016/j.mex.2016.04.009. eCollection 2016.

Detection of phosphorylated Akt and MAPK in cell culture assays.

MethodsX

Simon Molgaard, Maj Ulrichsen, Ditte Olsen, Simon Glerup

Affiliations

  1. The Lundbeck Foundation Research Center MIND, Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, 8000C Aarhus, Denmark.

PMID: 27274457 PMCID: PMC4885140 DOI: 10.1016/j.mex.2016.04.009

Abstract

This article describes an immunocytochemistry (ICC) method for staining against phosphorylated forms of the kinases Akt (pAkt) and MAPK (pMAPK). Phosphorylation is induced upon their activation by a number stimuli including insulin and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and is prerequisite for a number of cellular processes including cell proliferation and survival [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6]. ICC using antibodies raised against specific phosphorylation sites allows cell-type specific and subcellular monitoring of kinase activation. Here, we test how four different antibodies against pAkt and pMAPK, respectively perform in different cell types following insulin or BDNF stimulation using different protocol conditions. We find that phospho-specific-antibodies generally perform better when using Triton X-100 as a permeabilization agent compared to Saponin. In addition, two antibodies against pAkt and two against pMAPK gave a clear increase in signal in cells stimulated with insulin or BDNF compared to the signal obtained in unstimulated cells. These antibodies also performed well when tested with western blotting. Our results illustrate that both the choice of antibody as well as protocol details are critical parameters for successful detection of phosphorylated forms of kinases by ICC. This article includes: •A protocol for subcellular detection of phosphorylated Akt and MAPK.•Validation of 8 antibodies by immunocytochemistry.•Confirmation by western blotting.

Keywords: BDNF; Confocal microscopy; Fluorescence; HEK 293 cells; Hippocampal neuron culture; Immunocytochemistry followed by confocal microscopy and antibody validation; Insulin; Signalling

References

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