Isolation of skeletal muscle nuclei

A method for isolation of nuclei from rat skeletal muscle is described. The tissue is homogenized in the presence of Triton X-100, resulting in release of the nuclei from the muscle fibers. A crude nuclear pellet is prepared by differential centrifugation, and further purification is accomplished by centrifugation through dense sucrose. Bovine serum albumin is used to stabilize the nuclei during the isolation procedure. The isolated nuclei have been characterized microscopically and by chemical and enzymatic assay procedures.