Store all kit components at 4ºC until their expiration dates.
1. Stimulated and non-stimulated cell lysates
2. Protease inhibitors
3. 4 °C tube rocker or shaker
4. 1 M MgCl2
5. 2X reducing SDS-PAGE sample buffer
6. Electrophoresis and immunoblotting systems
7. Immunoblotting wash buffer such as TBST (10 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.4, 0.15 M NaCl, 0.05 %
8. Immunoblotting blocking buffer (TBST containing 5 % Non-fat Dry Milk or 3 % BSA)
9. PVDF or nitrocellulose membrane
10. Secondary Antibody
11. ECL Detection Reagents
Reagent Preparation
• 1X Assay/Lysis Buffer: Mix the 5X Stock briefly and dilute to 1X in deionized water. Just prior to
usage, add protease inhibitors such as 1 mM PMSF, 10 μg/mL leupeptin, and 10 μg/mL aprotinin.
Sample Preparation
Adherent Cells
1. Culture cells (one 10-cm plate, ~ 107 cells) to approximately 80-90 % confluence. Stimulate
cells with activator or inhibitor as desired.
2. Aspirate the culture media and wash twice with ice-cold PBS.
3. Completely remove the final PBS wash and add ice-cold 1X Assay/Lysis Buffer to the cells (0.5
- 1 mL per 10 cm tissue culture plate).
4. Place the culture plates on ice for 10-20 minutes.
5. Detach the cells from the plates by scraping with a cell scraper.
6. Transfer the lysates to appropriate size tubes and place on ice.
7. If nuclear lysis occurs, the cell lysates may become very viscous and difficult to pipette. If this
occurs, lysates can be passed through a 27½-gauge syringe needle 3-4 times to shear the
genomic DNA.
Clear the lysates by centrifugation for 10 minutes (12,000 x g at 4 °C).
8. Collect the supernatant and store samples (~1-2 mg of total proteins) on ice for immediate use,
or snap freeze and store at - 70 °C for future use.
Suspension Cells
1. Culture cells and stimulate with activator or inhibitor as desired.
2. Perform a cell count, and then pellet the cells by centrifugation.
3. Aspirate the culture media and wash twice with ice-cold PBS.
4. Completely remove the final PBS wash and add ice-cold 1X Assay/Lysis Buffer to the cell
pellet (0.5 – 1 mL per 1 x 107cells).
5. Lyse the cells by repeated pipetting.
6. Transfer the lysates to appropriate size tubes and place on ice.
7. If nuclear lysis occurs, the cell lysates may become very viscous and difficult to pipette. If this
occurs, lysates can be passed through a 27½-gauge syringe needle 3-4 times to shear the
genomic DNA.
8. Clear the lysates by centrifugation for 10 minutes (12,000 x g at 4 °C).
9. Collect the supernatant and store samples on ice for immediate use, or snap freeze and store at -
70 °C for future use.
In vitro GTPγS/GDP Protein Loading for positive and negative controls
Note: In vivo stimulation of cells with receptor ligands might activate ~10 % of the available Gαi
proteins, whereas in vitro GTPγS loading could activate ~50 % of the Gαi proteins that can be
activated.
1. Aliquot 0.5 mL of each cell extract to two microfuge tubes.
2. To each tube, add 5 μL of 1M MgCl2 (to 10 mM final concentration).
3. Add 5 μL of 100X GTPγS (to 100 μM, final concentration) to one tube (positive control).
4. Add 5 μL of 100X GDP (to 1 mM, final concentration) to the second tube (negative control).
5. Incubate the tubes at 30°C for 90 minutes with agitation.