Isolation of nuclei from skeletal muscle satellite cells and myofibers for use in chromatin immunoprecipitation assays.

Studies investigating mechanisms controlling gene regulation frequently examine specific DNA sequences using chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays to determine whether specific regulatory factors or modified histones are present. While use of primary cells or cell line models for differentiating or differentiated tissue is widespread, the ability to assess factor binding and histone modification in tissue defines the events that occur in vivo and provides corroboration for studies in cultured cells. Many tissues can be analyzed with minimal modification to existing ChIP protocols that are designed for cultured cells; however, some tissues, such as skeletal muscle, are problematic in that accessibility of the cross-linking agent is limited. We describe a method to isolate skeletal muscle tissue nuclei suitable for use in ChIP protocols. Furthermore, we utilize a simple fractionation of digested skeletal muscle tissue that can separate mature myofibers from satellite cells, which are responsible for postnatal skeletal muscle regeneration, thereby allowing simultaneous preparation of nuclei from both cell types.