BrdU preparation and administration
· Prepare stock solution of BrdU 10mg/ml in sterile PBS. BrdU powder is in the small -20°C fridge. Store the aliquots at -20°C in darkness for a maximum time of 3-4 months. Once you thaw the aliquoted vial keep it at 4°C for 5 days max.
· Inject intraperitoneally 150-200 ul per mouse of BrdU 10mg/ml. Ideally, you want to inject 50ug/bodyweight.
· Wait 2 hours and then sac the animal
BrdU staining on cryosections
· 1/2 head fixed in 4% PFA 15 min at 4C
· Wash 3X15' in PBS
· Incubate 1/2 heads in 30% sucrose in PBS O/N at 4C
· OCT embedding
· Fix slides in 4% PFA for 10 min at RT
· Wash in 1X PBS 2x10’ at RT shaking. In the meantime warm up 2N HCl at 37°C
· Place slides in 2N HCl and incubate for 25’ at 37°C
· Wash in 1X PBS for 5’ shaking
· Blocking step: PBS + 0.1%Triton+ 2% NDS+ 1% BSA
· Abs: rat anti-BrdU (Abcam ab6326) diluted between 1:100 and 1:400 in PBS +0.1% triton +1% BSA, O/N
Day after:
· Wash 0.1%Triton +1% BSA 2x10’
· Abs: donkey anti rat-FITC 1:200 for 1 h at RT
· Wash 0.1%Triton +1% BSA 2x10’
· Vectashield +Dapi (do not use Hoechst 33342)
Do you have any questions about this protocol?
Post your question to gather feedback from the community. We will also invite the authors of this
article to respond.