Protein samples were prepared for SDS-PAGE in SDS sample buffer (Merck Millipore; 70607) and boiled at 95 °C for 10 min before electrophoresis on 12% gels. Proteins were transferred to PVDF membranes (Amersham, GE10600023). Membranes were blocked with 5% non-fat milk and incubated with primary antibodies.
The following primary antibodies were used at the indicated dilutions: rabbit anti-phospho Y515 TrkB (Abcam: ab131483; 1:500), goat anti-TrkB (R&D systems; AF1494; 1:500), rabbit anti-IκBα (Santa Cruz; 9165; 1:500), rabbit anti-phospho-c-Jun (Thr91, Cell Signalling Technology; 2303; 1:1000), rabbit anti-c-Jun (Cell Signalling Technology; 9165; 1:1000) and mouse anti-GAPDH (Sigma; G8795; 1:1000). Immunoreactivity was visualised using appropriate HRP-conjugated secondary antibodies (Cell Signalling Technology; 7074). Immunoblots were developed using the ECL Advance Western blotting detection kit (Thermo Scientific; 34095) and imaged using a chemiluminescent western blot imaging system, Azure c300 (Azure Biosystems). Image analysis and quantification of band intensities were done using NIH ImageJ software.