title: Immunofluorescent detection of the activation of the small GTPase Rac1 in mouse skeletal muscle fibers.
abstract: The small GTPase Rac1 acts as a molecular switch of intracellular signaling in mammals. For understanding the regulatory mechanism, it is important to identify subcellular locations in which Rac1 is activated following multiple extracellular stimuli. However, it is difficult to detect Rac1 activation in situ in animal tissues, and thus a novel method is highly desirable. Here, we report a simple method to visualize the activation of endogenous Rac1 in mouse skeletal muscle fibers. In this assay, specific interaction between activated Rac1 and a binding polypeptide is detected by immunofluorescent microscopy. This approach is readily applicable to other small GTPases.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cell Biology, Department of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Osaka Prefecture University, Naka-ku, Sakai 599-8531, Japan.
authors.forename: Nobuyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Takenaka
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cell Biology, Department of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Osaka Prefecture University, Naka-ku, Sakai 599-8531, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuma
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nihata
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cell Biology, Department of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Osaka Prefecture University, Naka-ku, Sakai 599-8531, Japan. Electronic address: tkysato@b.s.osakafu-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Takaya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Satoh
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D020559:Monomeric GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000201:enzymology*; D020830:rac1 GTP-Binding Protein / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D020559:Monomeric GTP-Binding Proteins; D020830:rac1 GTP-Binding Protein
keywords: Activated form; Immunofluorescent microscopy; Rac1; Skeletal muscle; Small GTPase; Subcellular localization