Wes在頂級雜志Neuron中用于微量腦組織蛋白表達分析

中腦多巴胺能神經元與帕金森、藥物濫用密切相關
帕金森病和藥物濫用障礙都與中腦多巴胺能神經元的功能改變有關。在外側中腦，黑質(SN)的多巴胺能神經元(SN)向背側紋狀體發出投射，參與控制運動，而位于腹側被蓋區(VTA)的多巴胺能神經元(VTA)支配腹側紋狀體(伏隔核)和前額葉皮質，以參與激勵和獎勵方式。因此，在疾病進展的不同階段改變中腦多巴胺能神經元的遺傳組成的能力，可以揭示基因在相關病理表現中的作用，從而促進新的治療方法的發展。

特定基因敲除建立中腦多巴胺能神經元研究模型
美國NIH下屬美國國家藥物濫用研究中心（National Institute on Drug Abuse）的多個研究所，聯合在神經生物學頂級雜志Neuron發表研究結果：Neuron-Specific Genome Modification in the Adult Rat Brain Using CRISPR-Cas9 Transgenic Rats，Neuron (2019), doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2019.01.035 通過CRISPR-Cas9技術建立特定神經元敲除大鼠模型。

研究摘要
從歷史上看，大鼠一直是行為研究的首選動物模型。然而，基因組修飾方面的限制造成了與現有轉基因小鼠相比，它們的使用滯后。本文，科學家們開發了幾種轉基因工具，包括病毒載體和轉基因大鼠，利用CRISPR-Cas9技術對特定成年大鼠神經元進行靶向基因組修飾。從野生型大鼠開始，利用腺相關病毒(AAV)表達Cas9或導向RNA(GRNAs)的載體，實現酪氨酸羥化酶的敲除。隨后構建了一個AAV載體，用于Cre依賴的gRNA表達，以及三個新的轉基因大鼠系，將CRISPR-Cas9組分靶向到多巴胺能神經元。一只大鼠代表第一只以精原干細胞為靶點的生殖細胞基因敲除大鼠模型。本文所描述的大鼠是一種通用的平臺，用于在成年大鼠的大腦和其他可能表達cre的組織中進行細胞特異性和序列特異性基因組修飾。

Wes在本文中被用于微量中腦組織和原代神經元細胞蛋白質表達分析
組織：直徑0.2μm，0.2μg總蛋白，只是傳統western blot的幾十分之一；
原代神經元細胞：1μg總蛋白

如原文方法學描述
Protein analysis using Wes
10-weeks-old DAT-iCre line 6 transgenic and WT rats (7 rats from each line) unilaterally injected with AAV Cas9 and AAV LSL-Th gRNA into the midbrain were analyzed for TH protein expression through capillary western blot (Wes, Protein simple, San Jose, CA). Six weeks after injection, the animals were anesthetized and the brains were removed. The left and right midbrain regions were collected by taking a 2μm diameter punch of the tissue. Tissues were lysed in a modified RIPA buffer (described above), sonicated 10 s at 10 A (Ultrasonic Processor GE 70, Cole Parmer, Vernon Hills, IL), and then centrifuged at 11,000 rpm for 15 min at 4_C.After quantification of protein concentration in the supernatant using a DC assay (Bio-Rad), 0.2μg of total protein was transferred to 12-230 kDa Separation Modules (Protein Simple) for separation and detection using mouse anti-TH (1:50; Millipore #MAB318, RRID: AB_2201528) and mouse anti-actin (1:50; Cell Signal Technology mAb 3700S, RRID: AB_2242334) primary antibodies, and the Anti-Mouse Detection Module (Protein Simple,). The relative amount of TH protein was determined using the areas under peaks from the chemiluminescence chromatograms provided by the Compass for SW software (version 4.0.0, Protein Simple). TH values were normalized to actin before relating the injected left side to the non-injected right side.
For protein detection in primary cortical neuron cultures, cells were lysed in RIPA buffer (above) and 1μg protein was loaded onto WES 25-well plates for separation of 12-230 kDa proteins (ProteinSimple). MANF and actin proteins were detected using rabbit anti-MANF (YenZym) and mouse anti-actin (Abcam #ab3280) as primary antibodies, and HRP-conjugated anti-rabbit and anti-mouse secondary antibodies according to the instructions in the WES separation kit (ProteinSimple).