The dot blot was performed as described previously.40 (link) 2 ul of dissolved needles and soluble control were pipetted and dried onto a nitrocellulose membrane for 15 min. The membrane was blocked overnight with 5% powdered milk (Sigma-Aldrich) in TBS–0.1% Tween 20 (TBST) at 4°C overnight. The proteins were detected using 6x-His epitope tag primary antibodies raised in mice (ThermoFisher). After 2 hrs, the membrane was washed three times with TBST and incubated with goat anti-mouse secondary antibodies conjugated to alkaline phosphatase at 1:5000 dilution. The proteins were then detected using Western Blue Stabilized Substrate for alkaline phosphatase (Promega cat # S3841) and imaged after 5 min incubation.