2201 project
Lesson of the day: Homogenised (or smashed) rat liver LOOKS LIKE WATERMELON JUICE!!
Looks good, isn't it? Nice, cold and refreshing. What if I told you this was essence of rat liver?
(Nah it isn't, picture's from www.indiacafe.itgo.com/about.html - unfortunately for them, they have the best looking picture of watermelon juice from google images.)
Did I just spoil watermelon juice for everyone?
Tell me about it: I drank a nice sweet cup of watermelon juice right before the lab. In fact, I feel like one now.
That aside, today's lab session was an adventure. We happily answered questions posed by the TA regarding EDTA and PMSF and sucrose in extraction buffers (protect enzyme of interest in cytoplasm from hydrolysis by proteases), created our potassium phosphate buffer, smashed up the rat liver in the buffer and was gleefully thinking that open lab isn't so tough after all while preparing the said organ for ultracentrifugation when I suddenly realised that we had conveniently forgotten to put in EDTA, PMSF and sucrose in our excellently made buffer.
At least we realised it early enough; well, not early enough to save our liberated malate dehydrogenase enzymes from dying a premature and sad, sad death at the mercy of similarly liberated proteases and assorted lysosomal enzymes in the test tube, but at least we didn't happily carry out the extraction thinking all's right and well in the world of the test tube and then wonder why the enzyme assays demonstrate ZERO activity.
I had fun today =) open lab really is fun... frustrating, but fun.
Looks good, isn't it? Nice, cold and refreshing. What if I told you this was essence of rat liver?(Nah it isn't, picture's from www.indiacafe.itgo.com/about.html - unfortunately for them, they have the best looking picture of watermelon juice from google images.)
Did I just spoil watermelon juice for everyone?
Tell me about it: I drank a nice sweet cup of watermelon juice right before the lab. In fact, I feel like one now.
That aside, today's lab session was an adventure. We happily answered questions posed by the TA regarding EDTA and PMSF and sucrose in extraction buffers (protect enzyme of interest in cytoplasm from hydrolysis by proteases), created our potassium phosphate buffer, smashed up the rat liver in the buffer and was gleefully thinking that open lab isn't so tough after all while preparing the said organ for ultracentrifugation when I suddenly realised that we had conveniently forgotten to put in EDTA, PMSF and sucrose in our excellently made buffer.
At least we realised it early enough; well, not early enough to save our liberated malate dehydrogenase enzymes from dying a premature and sad, sad death at the mercy of similarly liberated proteases and assorted lysosomal enzymes in the test tube, but at least we didn't happily carry out the extraction thinking all's right and well in the world of the test tube and then wonder why the enzyme assays demonstrate ZERO activity.
I had fun today =) open lab really is fun... frustrating, but fun.
posted by ger @ 6:56 下午
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