iPOND Methodology
Materials:
REAGENTS
- EdU (5-ethynyl-2’-deoxyuridine) (Invitrogen, cat. no E10187)
- 37% (wt/vol) formaldehyde solution (Sigma, cat. no F1635)
- 10X PBS pH 7.2 (Gibco, cat. no 70013)
- Glycine (Fisher, cat no BP 381)
- Cell scraper
- Triton X100
- Bovine serum albumin
- DMSO
- Invitrogen’s Click-it Cell Reaction Buffer Kit (Invitrogen, cat. no C10269)
- Click-iT Cell Reaction Buffer (10X solution containing Tris-buffered saline) substitute PBS
- Copper (II) sulfate (CuSO4) (100mM aqueous solution)
- Click-iT Cell Buffer Additive substitute Na ascorbate
- Biotin azide (Invitrogen, cat. no B10184)
- SDS
- Tris
- Aprotinin (Sigma, cat. no A6279)
- Leupeptin (Sigma, cat. no L2884)
- 90 micron nylon mesh
- Streptavidin agarose (Novagen, cat. no 69203-3)
- NaCl
EQUIPMENT
- Microtip sonicator for cell lysis and chromatin fragmentation (Misonix 4000 or Fisher Scientific Sonic Dismembrator Model 500)
- Rotating platform for biotin captures o/n @ 4C
REAGENT SETUP
- EdU
- Dissolve EdU in DMSO for a final stock concentration of 10mM. Aliquot and store at -20C in the dark. Stable for up to 1 year.
- Before use, warm up at 37C in dark for a couple of minutes. To pulse cells, pipet 1:1000 of EdU directly into media for a final concentration of 10uM.
- 1% formaldehyde/PBS (prepared freshly)
- Dilute 37% formaldehyde 1:37 with PBS. Keep at RT until cells fixation step.
- 1.25M Glycine
- Prepare 1.25M glycine stock. Store at RT. Use at 1:10 dilution for final concentation of 0.125M glycine.
- Permeabilization buffer
- Make stock 20% Triton-X and keep at RT.
- Dilute to 0.25% Triton-X in PBS and keep at 4C.
- 0.5% BSA/PBS wash buffer
- Prepare 0.5% BSA in PBS. Filter and store at 4C.
- Click reaction cocktail (prepared freshly)
- Dissolve biotin-azide in DMSO to achieve a final concentration of 1mM. Aliquot and store at -20C.
- Prepare stock 100mM CuSO4 in MQ H2O. Store at RT.
- Prepare 20mg/ml of (+) sodium L-ascorbate (reducing agent) in H2O and store on ice until needed. Prepare freshly every time and limit exposure to air.
- Make 1X PBS from 10X PBS stock and store at RT.
- Lysis buffer
- Prepare 1% SDS in 50mM Tris, pH 8.0. Store at RT.
- Prior to use, add protease inhibitors aprotinin and leupeptin to final concentration of 1ug/ml.
- Salt wash
- Prepare 5M NaCl and store at RT. To wash iPOND captures, dilute to 1M NaCl.
- Elution buffer
- Prepare 2X SB and store at -20C. Add DTT freshly.
Procedure:
DAY 1—
- Expand ___ of 150mm^2 plates of 293T cells into ___ plates.
- Tomorrow, 3 plates will be collected per each of the experimental samples.
*CRITICAL STEP
- Experiment works best when cells have fresh media and are expanded one day before experiment.
DAY 2—
Count cells
- Count one 150mm^2 plate of 293T cells.
- This dish contains equal density of cells as dishes that will be used for this experiment.
*CRITICAL STEP
- Experiment works best when cell confluence is between 4-6 x 10^7 cells / dish
- Cells must be in log phase of growth and cannot be overgrown. EdU incorporation is not maximal unless this critical parameter is met.
EdU Pulse
- Write down samples below:
Example:
1 = 10 min EdU, no biotin-N3 (negative control)
2 = 10 min EdU, + biotin-N3
- Plan out times to pulse, fix, quench, collect and wash samples PRIOR to beginning pulsing cells.
*CRITICAL STEP
- Stagger samples to ensure that each sample is treated equally through processing steps.
- Each samples requires ca. 5 minutes of processing time to collect and 20 minutes of washes.
- To pulse cells with EdU, remove 3 plates from incubator and take into culture hood.
- Pipet 23ul of 10mM EdU stock into 23ml of media containing cells to achieve final [EdU] = 10uM.
*CRITICAL STEP
- It is important to perform this step as fast as possible to prevent pH and temperature changes in the media that can affect replication rates.
- Place plates back into incubator to pulse with EdU for 10 minutes.
- If not performing chases into thymidine or drug treatments, skip to step 14.
- To chase samples, remove plates from incubator and decant media.
- Carefully wash cells with 4-5ml of chase media.
- Decant.
- Carefully add back 20ml of media containing 10uM thymidine or desired concentration of DNA damaging drug.
- Chase samples for desired amount of time.
Collect and fix cells with HCHO (formaldehyde)
- After EdU pulse and/or chase, decant media.
- Immediately fix cells on plate by adding 10ml of 1% formaldehyde (HCHO) in PBS.
- Incubate cells 20 mins @ RT.
*CRITICAL STEP
- Stagger samples to ensure that each sample is treated equally through processing steps.
- Fix one sample at a time.
- Quench cross-linking by adding 1ml of 1.25M glycine.
- As soon as glycine has been added, begin to collect sample by scraping with cell scraper.
- Collect cells in 50ml conical.
- Note: It is not necessary to wash plates, unless majority of cells were not scrapped off.
- Note the volume. This is same volume to be used for PBS washes.
- Centrifuge tubes 5mins @ 4C @ 2,000rpm.
- Decant supernatant.
- Wash pellets 3X with PBS and spin down 5 mins @ 2,000rpm @ 4C.
- Note: PBS wash volume is same as fixation volume noted above.
- After last wash, decant PBS.
Stopping point—samples can be stored at -80C.
Permeabilize cells
- Resuspend cells in 0.25% TritonX/PBS at concentration of 1 x 10^7 cells/ 1mL.
- Incubate cells @ RT 30 mins (during incubation, prepare Click Rxn, see step 32).
- Spin down 5 mins @ 2,000rpm @ 4C
- Carefully decant supernatant.
- Wash cells 1X with cold 0.5% BSA/PBS.
*CRITICAL STEP
- BSA prevents cell pellet from detaching from wall of 50mL conical.
- Loose pellet will lead to loss of cells in this step.
- Spin down 5 mins @ 2,000rpm @ 4C and decant supernatant.
- Wash cells 1X with PBS.
- Spin down 5 mins @ 2,000rpm @ 4C, decant supernatant and place pellets on ice while finishing Click rxn cocktail preparation.
Click Reaction
Preparation and Click reaction cocktail calculations
- During cell permeabilization, take out necessary reagents for click reaction.
- Warm up an aliquot of stock biotin-azide by placing on 37C heat block.
*CRITICAL STEP
- If using photocleavable biotin-azide, keep reagent protected from light and prepare Click reaction cocktail in the dark.
- To calculate click reaction cocktail volumes:
- Note that 1 reaction (1x rxn) is sufficient to biotin tag 1 x 10^7 cells.
- Each 1x rxn contains 500ul of added reagents.
- Use table below to calculate amounts of each reagent needed per sample.
- Note that 2 click reaction cocktails will need preparation: 1 for the negative control, which contains DMSO, and 1 for the experimental samples, which contains biotin-azide.
- An example is given for a sample size of 10 x 10^7 cells.
NEGATIVE CONTROL (DMSO, no Click)

EXPERIMENTAL SAMPLES (Biotin-azide, Click rxn)

- After calculations are complete, add each reagent to 50ml conical tube on ice in the order listed in the tables above.
- Resuspend pellets by vortexing.
- Rotate reactions @ RT for 1hr.
- Spin down Clicked samples 5 mins @ 2,000 rpm @ 4C and decant supernatant.
- Wash cells 1X with cold 0.5% BSA/PBS using same volume as used in click reaction for one sample.
*CRITICAL STEP
- BSA prevents cell pellet from detaching from wall of 50mL conical.
- Loose pellet will lead to loss of cells in this step.
- Spin down 5 mins @ 2,000rpm @ 4C and decant supernatant.
- Wash cells 1X with PBS.
- Decant PBS and invert tubes on paper towel to remove all PBS.
Stopping point—samples can be stored at -80C.
Lysis and sonication
- Prepare Lysis Buffer by adding aprotinin and leupeptin before use and place on ice.
- Resuspend samples at a concentration of 8.8 x 10^7 cells per 600ul lysis buffer and place into 1.5ml Eppendorf tubes on ice.
*CRITICAL STEP
- Make certain that all cells have been washed off of 50ml conical tube.
- During sonication, keep samples being sonicated on ice slurry to prevent overheating.
- Sonicate cells using microtip sonicator and the following settings:
- Pulse: 20 seconds constant pulse, 40 seconds pause
- Power: 13-16 Watts
- Pulse: 1 X for every 200ul of cell lysate
- Total pulse time: 4-5 minutes per sample
*CRITICAL STEP
- Lysate should appear clear/opaque after sonication and not cloudy.
- Cloudiness is an indicator of improper ratio of SDS to protein in lysate.
- Centrifuge samples 10 mins @ max speed RT in table-top centrifuge.
- Sample will be warm to the touch after spin.
- Filter supernatant through a 90 micron nylon mesh into 15ml conical tube. Place on ice.
- Note the LYSATE VOLUME = _________________
- Dilute lysate 1:1 (v/v) with cold PBS containing 1ug/ml of aprotinin and leupeptin.
*CRITICAL STEP
- Samples have been diluted to contain 0.5% SDS, 25mM Tris because biotin capture is inefficient in lysates containing 1% SDS.
- Note the FINAL CAPTURE VOLUME = _________________
- Remove 15ul of lysate at this point and place on ice. Add 2X SDS buffer in 1:1 (v/v) and freeze at -80C. This represents the Input for each capture.
Biotin capture
- To capture biotin-tagged nascent DNA, each sample is incubated with streptavidin agarose beads at a concentration of 100ul bead slurry (50ul packed volume) per 1 x 10^8 cells.
- Wash beads for all samples together by centrifuging bead slurry @ 1800g for 1min @ RT.
- Slowly and carefully aspirate storage buffer off of beads using a gel loading tip.
- Wash beads 2 X with 1:1 (v/v) of Lysis Buffer.
- Wash beads 1 X with 1:1 (v/v) of PBS containing aprotinin and leupeptin.
- Resuspend beads 1:1 (v/v) in PBS containing protease inhibitors.
- Add equal volume of beads to each sample using pipet tip that is cut at the end.
- Rotate biotin captures in cold room 16-20 hrs.
DAY 3—
- Take down captures after ________hrs of capture.
- Spin down beads with captured DNA and associated proteins @ RT 3 mins 1800g.
- Very slowly and carefully aspirate most of supernatant.
- Note: Supernatant should be light blue/clear.
- Wash beads with 1ml of cold Lysis Buffer (no additives needed).
- Rotate beads on rotating platform @ RT for 5 mins.
- Spin @ RT 1min 1800g.
- Wash 1x with 1ml of 1M NaCl.
- Rotate and pellet beads as in 66-67.
- Repeat Lysis Buffer washes 2X.
- After last wash, aspirate off all supernatant.
- To elute proteins bound to nascent DNA, add 2X SB to packed beads 1:1 (v/v of packed beads; example: 90ul 2X SB : 90ul packed beads).
- Very lightly flick beads to mix.
- Quick spin to pellet beads.
- To finish protein elution, boil captures and inputs for 25mins @ 95C.
- Quick spin.
- Calculate volume of input needed to load per well to achieve 0.1% input.
- Pour, load, run and transfer gels.
DAY 4—
- Finish Western blotting.