Figure 2.

Basic experimental protocol for the proteomics analysis of exudates collected from tissues injected with SVMPs. Mice are injected intramuscularly in the gastrocnemius with SVMPs, or with mixtures of SVMPs and antibodies or inhibitors. At various time intervals animals are sacrificed and a sample of exudate is collected with a heparinized capillary vessel after sectioning the skin underlying the affected region. Upon separation of exudate proteins on SDS-PAGE and staining, sections of the gel are cut, reduced, carboxymethylated, and trypsin-digested, and then submitted to proteomic analysis (see text for more details). The identity of ECM proteins in the exudate and the extent of degradation are then assessed. Magnification of the histology section: 200 ×.