Skeletal Muscle Tissue Clearing for LacZ and Fluorescent Reporters, and Immunofluorescence Staining

Skeletal muscle is a highly ordered yet complex tissue containing several cell types that interact with each other in order to maintain structure and homeostasis. It is also a highly regenerative tissue that responds to damage in a highly intricate but stereotypic manner, with distinct spatial and temporal kinetics. Proper examination of this process requires one to look at the three-dimensional orientation of the cellular and subcellular components, which can be accomplished through tissue clearing. While there has been a recent surge of protocols to study biology in whole tissue, it has primarily focused on the nervous system. This chapter describes the workflow for whole mount analysis of murine skeletal muscle for LacZ reporters, fluorescent reporters and immunofluorescence staining. Using this technique, we are able to visualize LacZ reporters more effectively in deep tissue samples, and to perform fluorescent imaging with a depth greater than 1700 μm.

A graphene oxide based fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) biosensor for ultrasensitive detection of botulinum neurotoxin A (BoNT/A) enzymatic activity

Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) are among the most potent toxic bacterial proteins for humans, which make them potential agents for bioterrorism. Therefore, an ultrasensitive detection of BoNTs and their active states is in great need as field-deployable systems for anti-terrorism applications. We report the construction of a novel graphene oxide (GO)-peptide based fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) biosensor for ultrasensitive detection of the BoNT serotype A light chain (BoNT-LcA) protease activity. A green fluorescence protein (GFP) modified SNAP-25 peptide substrate (SNAP-25-GFP) was optimally designed and synthesized with the centralized recognition/cleavage sites. This FRET platform was constructed by covalent immobilization of peptide substrate on GO with BSA passivation which have advantages of low non-specific adsorption and high stability in protein abundant solution. BoNT-LcA can specifically cleave SNAP-25-GFP substrate covalently immobilized on GO to release the fragment with GFP. Based on fluorescence signal recovery measurement, the target BoNT-LcA was detected sensitively and selectively with the linear detection range from 1fg/mL to 1pg/mL. The limit of detection (LOD) for BoNT-LcA is around 1fg/mL.