To detect protein carbonyl formation, the collected protein fractions were subjected to derivatization. Carbonyl groups present in the protein side chains were derivatized with 2,4 dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH), leading to the formation of stable 2,4 dinitrophenylhydrazone (DNP) derivative, which involves the addition of an equal volume of protein and 12% SDS (final concentration at 6%) and subsequent addition of 1X DNPH solution (50 mM solution in 50% sulphuric acid). The mixture was incubated at RT for 30 min and the reactions were neutralized with 2 M Tris base and 30% glycerol (0.75× v/v of DNPH solution). The resulting protein fractions were centrifuged at 14,000 rpm for 10 min and the supernatants were loaded onto SDS gels for immunoblotting with an anti-DNP antibody.
Whole cell homogenates (10 μg/lane), processed on 10% SDS gel, were then transferred to blotting membranes (nitrocellulose) using a Trans-Blot Turbo transfer system (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA, USA). The membranes were blocked (BSA in phosphate buffered saline, pH 7.4, containing 0.1% Tween 20) overnight at 4 °C. The blocked membranes were probed for 2 h with an anti-MDA antibody at RT. After 4 cycles of washing with PBST and incubation for 1 h at room temperature with HRP-conjugated anti-rabbit secondary antibody (dilution 1:10,000) and subsequent washing [PBST, 5× (5 min each)], the immunocomplexes were visualized utilizing Immobilon Western Chemiluminescent HRP Substrate (Sigma Aldrich, GmbH, Mannheim, Germany) and imaged using an Amersham 600 imager (GE Healthcare, Amersham, UK). Densitometry analysis of the blots obtained was generated using Image J 1.53t [public domain software (Bethesda, MD, USA) provided by the National Institute of Mental Health, United States].