Can the Bioruptor® Sonicator be used to lyse cells instead of using the lysis buffer which is included in the MeDIP kit?
We do not recommend using the Bioruptor® Sonicator for cell lysis. Since the complete lysis buffer for DNA extraction contains proteinase K, the protocol allows for both cell lysis and protein digestion. Following phenol-chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation allow getting pure genomic DNA and the quality of DNA is important for MeDIP results. Moreover, it is easier to shear pure DNA rather than chromatin. Note that it is possible to use Bioruptor® Sonicator for cell lysis for other purpose (for example for cell lysis for Western Blot analysis) but in the case of MeDIP we recommend to use the proposed protocol starting with genomic DNA extraction and followed by shearing.
