Apolipoprotein A-I/ApoA1 Antibody - BSA Free

Protocol for Flow Cytometry Intracellular Staining
Sample Preparation.
1. Grow cells to 60-85% confluency. Flow cytometry requires between 2 x 105 and 1 x 106 cells for optimal performance.
2. If cells are adherent, harvest gently by washing once with staining buffer and then scraping. Avoid using trypsin as this can disrupt certain epitopes of interest. If enzymatic harvest is required, use Accutase, Collagenase, or TrypLE Express for a less damaging option.
3. Reserve 100 uL for counting, then transfer cell volume into a 50 mL conical tube and centrifuge for 8 minutes at 400 RCF.
a. Count cells using a hemocytometer and a 1:1 trypan blue exclusion stain to determine cell viability before starting the flow protocol. If cells appear blue, do not proceed.
4. Re-suspend cells to a concentration of 1 x 106 cells/mL in staining buffer.
5. Aliquot out 100 uL samples in accordance with your experimental samples.

Tip: When cell surface and intracellular staining are required in the same sample, it is advisable that the cell surface staining be performed first since the fixation and permeabilization steps might reduce the availability of surface antigens.

Intracellular Staining.
Tip: When performing intracellular staining, it is important to use appropriate fixation and permeabilization reagents based upon the target and its subcellular location. Certain targets may require more gentle or transient permeabilization protocols such as the commonly employed methanol or saponin-based methods.
Protocol for Cytoplasmic Targets:
1. Fix the cells by adding 100 uL fixation solution (such as 4% PFA) to each sample for 10-15 minutes.
2. Permeabilize cells by adding 100 uL of a permeabilization buffer to every 1 x 106 cells present in the sample. Mix well and incubate at room temperature for 10 minutes.
a. For cytoplasmic targets, use a gentle permeabilization solution such as 1X PBS + 0.5% Saponin or 1X PBS + 0.5% Tween-20.
b. To maintain the permeabilized state throughout your experiment, use staining buffer + 0.1% of the permeabilization reagent (i.e. 0.1% Tween-20 or 0.1% Saponin).
3. Following the 10-minute incubation, add 2 mL of the staining buffer + 0.1% permeabilizer to each sample.
4. Centrifuge for 1 minute at 400 RCF.
5. Discard supernatant and re-suspend in 100 uL of staining buffer + 0.1% permeabilizer.
6. Add appropriate amounts of each antibody (eg. 1 test or 1 ug per sample, as experimentally determined).
7. Mix well and incubate at room temperature for 30 minutes. Gently mix samples every 10-15 minutes.
8. Following the primary/conjugate incubation, add 1-2 mL/sample of staining buffer +0.1% permeabilizer and centrifuge for 1 minute at 400 RCF.
9. Wash twice by re-suspending cells in staining buffer (2 mL for tubes or 200 uL for wells) and centrifuge at 400 RCF for 5 minutes. Discard supernatant.
10. Add appropriate amount of secondary antibody (as experimentally determined) to each sample.
11. Incubate at room temperature in dark for 20 minutes.
12. Add 1-2 mL of staining buffer and centrifuge at 400 RCF for 1 minute and discard supernatant.
13. Wash twice by re-suspending cells in staining buffer (2 mL for tubes or 200 uL for wells) and centrifuge at 400 RCF for 5 minutes. Discard supernatant.
14. Resuspend in an appropriate volume of staining buffer (usually 500 uL per sample) and proceed with analysis on your flow cytometer.

Apolipoprotein A-I/ApoA1 Antibody:
Immunocytochemistry Protocol

Culture cells to appropriate density in 35 mm culture dishes or 6-well plates.

1. Remove culture medium and add 10% formalin to the dish. Fix at room temperature for 30 minutes.
2. Remove the formalin and add ice cold methanol. Incubate for 5-10 minutes.
3. Remove methanol and add washing solution (i.e. PBS). Be sure to not let the specimen dry out. Wash three times for 10 minutes.
4. To block nonspecific antibody binding incubate in 10% normal goat serum from 1 hour to overnight at room temperature.
5. Add primary antibody at appropriate dilution and incubate at room temperature from 2 hours to overnight at room temperature.
6. Remove primary antibody and replace with washing solution. Wash three times for 10 minutes.
7. Add secondary antibody at appropriate dilution. Incubate for 1 hour at room temperature.
8. Remove antibody and replace with wash solution, then wash for 10 minutes. Add Hoechst 33258 to wash solution at 1:25,0000 and incubate for 10 minutes. Wash a third time for 10 minutes.
9. Cells can be viewed directly after washing. The plates can also be stored in PBS containing Azide covered in Parafilm (TM). Cells can also be cover-slipped using Fluoromount, with appropriate sealing.

*The above information is only intended as a guide. The researcher should determine what protocol best meets their needs. Please follow safe laboratory procedures.

Apolipoprotein A-I/ApoA1 Antibody:
Immunohistochemistry-Paraffin Embedded Sections

Antigen Unmasking:
Bring slides to a boil in 10 mM sodium citrate buffer (pH 6.0) then maintain at a sub-boiling temperature for 10 minutes. Cool slides on bench-top for 30 minutes.

Staining:
1. Wash sections in deionized water three times for 5 minutes each.
2. Wash sections in wash buffer for 5 minutes.
3. Block each section with 100-400 ul blocking solution for 1 hour at room temperature.
4. Remove blocking solution and add 100-400 ul diluted primary antibody. Incubate overnight at 4 C.
5. Remove antibody solution and wash sections in wash buffer three times for 5 minutes each.
6. Add 100-400 ul biotinylated diluted secondary antibody. Incubate 30 minutes at room temperature.
7. Remove secondary antibody solution and wash sections three times with wash buffer for 5 minutes each.
8. Add 100-400 ul Streptavidin-HRP reagent to each section and incubate for 30 minutes at room temperature.
9. Wash sections three times in wash buffer for 5 minutes each.
10. Add 100-400 ul DAB substrate to each section and monitor staining closely.
11. As soon as the sections develop, immerse slides in deionized water.
12. Counterstain sections in hematoxylin.
13. Wash sections in deionized water two times for 5 minutes each.
14. Dehydrate sections.
15. Mount coverslips.

Apolipoprotein A-I/ApoA1 Antibody:
Western Blot Protocol

1. Perform SDS-PAGE on samples to be analyzed, loading 25 ug of total protein per lane.
2. Transfer proteins to membrane according to the instructions provided by the manufacturer of the membrane and transfer apparatus.
3. Stain according to standard Ponceau S procedure (or similar product) to assess transfer success, and mark molecular weight standards where appropriate.
4. Rinse the blot.
5. Block the membrane using standard blocking buffer for at least 1 hour.
6. Wash the membrane in wash buffer three times for 10 minutes each.
7. Dilute anti-ApoA1 primary antibody in blocking buffer and incubate 1 hour at room temperature.
8. Wash the membrane in wash buffer three times for 10 minutes each.
9. Apply the diluted HRP conjugated secondary antibody in blocking buffer (as per manufacturers instructions) and incubate 1 hour at room temperature.
10. Wash the blot in wash buffer three times for 10 minutes each (this step can be repeated as required to reduce background).
11. Apply the detection reagent of choice in accordance with the manufacturers instructions.
Note: Tween-20 can be added to the blocking or antibody dilution buffer at a final concentration of 0.05-0.2%.