Abstract
Preparation of plasma membrane (PM) sheets from intact cells is a simple method for obtaining an immobilized cytoplasmic PM surface that can be probed with antibodies or chemical probes. This method was first reported by Robinson et al. (1) who used it to detect the presence of the GLUT-4 glucose transporter at the PM as a result of insulin stimulation. We have extended this technique in order to use it as a means to quickly and efficiently obtain a highly purified plasma membrane fraction (2). We have successfully used this method to detect the GLUT-4 glucose transporter on the cytoplasmic face of the PM as well as using it to quantify total membrane-associated GLUT-4 by western blotting (2,3). The method can be adapted to measure any strongly associated membrane protein possessing an endofacial epitope (e.g., a protein attached to the PM through a membrane-spanning domain). The method relies on sonic disruption of cells that are coated with a positively charged molecule, which allows the exofacial surface of the PM to be drawn into contact with the solid support on which the cells were cultured. Sonication of these cells results in formation of a “lawn” of adherent membrane fragments oriented with their cytoplasmic surfaces facing away from the surface of cell attachment. This uniform orientation allows access to the cytoplasmic surface of the PM using various probes, after fixation by standard microscopy techniques.
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Robinson, L. J., Pang, S., Harris, D. S., Heuser J., and James, D. E. (1992) Translocation of the glucose transporter (GLUT-4) to the cell surface in permeabilized 3T3-L1 adipocytes: effects of ATP and GTPγS and localization of GLUT-4 to clathrin lattices. J. Cell Biol. 117, 1181–1196.
Knight, J. B., Cao, K. T, Gibson G. V, and Olson, A. L. (2000) Expression of a prenylation-deficient Rab4 interferes with propagation of insulin signaling through insulin receptor substrate-1. Endocrinology 141, 208–218.
Olson, A. L., Knight, J. B., and Pessin, J. E. (1997) Syntaxin 4, VAMP2, and/or VAMP3/Cellubrevin are functional target membrane and vesicle SNAP receptors for insulin-stimulated GLUT-4 translocation in adipocytes. Mol. Cell. Biol. 17, 2425–2435.
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© 2003 Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ
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Knight, J.B., Olson, A.L. (2003). Visualization and Quantitation of Integral Membrane Proteins Using a Plasma Membrane Sheet Assay. In: Özcan, S. (eds) Diabetes Mellitus. Methods in Molecular Biology™, vol 83. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1385/1-59259-377-1:113
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1385/1-59259-377-1:113
Publisher Name: Humana Press
Print ISBN: 978-1-58829-148-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-59259-377-4
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