:: Posted by avi_wener on 05-02-2012
The following are the top 8 causes for overall high background on your western blot and potential solutions:
- Blocking was incomplete
- Increase the concentration of blocker
- Increase the duration of the blocking step
- Use a different blocking agent
- Blocker was impure
- Use a pure protein such as BSA or casein as a blocker
- Wash protocols were insufficient
- Increase the number, duration, or stringency of the washes
- Include progressively stronger detergents in the washes; for example, SDS is stronger than Nonidet P-40 (NP-40), which is stronger than Tween 20
- Include Tween 20 in the antibody dilution buffers to reduce nonspecific binding
- The blot was left in the enzyme substrate too long (colorimetric detection)
- Remove the blot from the substrate solution when the signal-to-noise level is acceptable, and immerse in diH2O
- Contamination occurred during electrophoresis or transfer
- Discard and prepare fresh gels and transfer solutions
- Replace or thoroughly clean contaminated foam pads if a tank blotter was used
- Excessive amounts of protein were loadedon the gel or too much SDS was used inthe transfer buffer. Proteins can pass through the membrane without binding and recirculate through a tank blotting system.
- Reduce the amount of protein on the gel or SDS in the transfer buffer
- Add a second sheet of membrane to bind excess protein
- The primary or secondary antibody was too concentrated
- Increase antibody dilutions
- Perform a dot-blot experiment to optimize working antibody concentration
- Incubation trays were contaminated
- Clean the trays or use disposable trays
For more great information, download the protein blotting guide from Bio-Rad Laboratories.
:: Posted by avi_wener on 04-16-2012
How anxious are you to get experimental results? Don’t you wish that you could cut those 2 day western blots in half? If so, the V3 workflow method by Bio-Rad Laboratories will surely get you excited.
V3, which stands for visualizing protein separation, verifing protein transfer, and confidently validating blot data via total protein normalization, uses a 5-step process to cut traditional western blotting times down from 2 days to one. The steps include:
- 15 minute protein separation
- stain free band imaging
- three minute protein transfer
- instant visualization of protein transfer onto membrane
- stain-free total protein normalization for faster quantitative results
For more information visit www.bio-rad.com/ad/V3pr.
:: Posted by avi_wener on 02-20-2012
We are all intimately familiar with protein blotting techniques which have been a cornerstone of the biochemicstry/biology lab for the past 30 years.
As is well known, the efficiency of protein migration is affected by various factors including the size and charge of the protein, and protocol optimization is often needed on a protein-specific basis. In fact, it can be particularly challenging to transfer large molecular weight proteins alongside small molecular weight proteins, as transfer conditions may cause small proteins to blow through the membrane.
Currently there are three popular techniques for protein transfer: the tank transfer, the semi-dry blotting method and the fast blotting “turbo” technique (for transfer within 3-10 minutes).
In the attached paper, Transfer of high molecular weight proteins to membranes: a comparison of transfer efficiency between blotting systems, Bio-Rad Laboratories presents a comparison of the various blotting techniques across a wide range of molecular weights with a particular emphasis on large proteins (more than 200kD).
:: Posted by avi_wener on 01-31-2012
Yesterday we told you about how to get more data from your western blots by utilizing multiplex fluorescent detection. Today, we will provide you with a primer on fluorescent detection taken from the Bio-Rad Laboratories Protein Blotting Guide.
In fluorescence, a high-energy photon (ℎVex) excites a fluorophore, causing it to leave the ground state (S0) and enter a higher energy state (S’1). Some of this energy dissipates, allowing the fluorophore to enter a relaxed excited state (S1). A photon of light is emitted (ℎVem), returning the fluorophore to the ground state. The emitted photon is of a lower energy
(longer wavelength) due to the dissipation of energy while in the excited state.
When using fluorescence detection, consider the following optical characteristics of the fluorophores to optimize the signal:
:: Posted by avi_wener on 01-30-2012
The most common method for analyzing protein expression levels is western blotting with detetion of a single protein target, using horseradish peroxidase-conjugated or alkaline phosphatase-conjugated antibody probes combined with colorimetric or chemiluminescent detection. While these methods work well for studying a single target, they are unsuitable for anlayzing multiple targets at the same time, particularly if the target proteins are of unknown or similar sizes. For analysis of multiple targets, the blot is typically stripped and reprobed for additional targets of interest. Reprobing is time consuming, and often some of the target protein on the blot is lost as a result of the stripping procedure. If one protein is removed to a greater of lesser extent relative to another protein, the ability to quantitate the relative amounts of diffferent proteins of interest is compromised.
In this technical note, you will be introduced to fluorescent western blotting detection which is superior to traditional western blotting when trying to analyze multiple proteins.
Advantages include:
- fast and quantitative detection of multiple proteins in a single experiment
- sensitivity compared to chemiluminescent detection
- linear dynamic range up to 10 times greater than that of chemiluminescent detection
- fewer experimental steps than chemiluminescent detection
- no substrate requirement, and therefore no risk of exhausting the substrate and causing a “dead zone” in the blot
- the ability to visualize and quantitate both phosphorylated and non-phosphorylated forms of individual proteins
The technical note is divided into three sections to help those who are new to fluorescent western blot detection quickly generate reliable and reproducible results.
Click here to download the the technote now!
