Protein gels

Author

Jenny Green- John F. Kennedy High School

Principles

Evolution and proteins specific to species

Genetics and creating cladograms

adaptations

DNA

Objectives:

Students will learn laboratory techniques associated with protein gel electrophoresis.

• Students will learn how proteins can be used to study evolution.

• Students will hypothesize on the relatedness of different fish species by comparing fish protein fingerprints.

• Students will test their hypothesis by comparing their conclusions with those presented in the Evolutionary Tree of Fish provided

Standards

Molecular clock in evolution

adaptations in organisms

Macromolecules and proteins

Comparing genetic similarities

Materials needed

  • Protein gel container Mini-protean 1D

  • power pack

  • comaasie blue

  • Proteins from fish muscles

  • micropippeters

  • buffer

  • Laemmli sample buffer

  • microtubes

  • water bath

  • protein gels (must buy)

  • micropipeters

  • buffer dam

  • actin and myosin standards

  • Kaleidoscope

  • 1X Tris-gylcine SDS

  • Staining trays

Procedure

Student manual

Teacher Manual

Explanation

Proteomics is the large-scale study of proteins, particularly their structures and functions.[1][2] Proteins are vital parts of living organisms, as they are the main components of the physiological metabolic pathways of cells. The term "proteomics" was first coined in 1997[3] to make an analogy with genomics, the study of the genes. The word "proteome" is a blend of "protein" and "genome", and was coined by Marc Wilkins in 1994 while working on the concept as a PhD student.[4][5] The proteome is the entire complement of proteins,[4] including the modifications made to a particular set of proteins, produced by an organism or system. This will vary with time and distinct requirements, or stresses, that a cell or organism undergoes.

Identifying proteins and their parts are important in looking at cell cascade, or looking at the pathways and enzymatic process of proteins. Also, scientists look at proteins such as the immune system proteins to create new products to kill or create vaccinations, as well as studying how complex the immune function of organisms are.

Questions

  1. Besides actin and myosin, how many other proteins make up a functional muscle?

  2. What does each protein do?

  3. How many mRNA's are produced by each gene?

  4. What function, if any do you think introns may serve?

Everyday examples of the principles illustrated

Proteins are used to create vaccines for flu, HPV vaccine are created because of knowlege of proteins as well as how to develop drugs to counteract different bacteria and viruses. Also RNA splicing and used in reproduction and also in cancer studies and cellular reproduction.

Photos

protein gel chamber

Protein Gel chamber

Movies

References