Rapid Electrophoretic Staining and Destaining of Polyacrylamide Gels

Coomassie brilliant blue (CBB) dyes have been commonly used for the staining of protein bands in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) gels. However, the staining and destaining of CBB dyes are time-consuming, and the use of methanol is hazardous to one’s health. I introduce a rapid electrophoretic destaining method using a semi-dry transfer unit and a high current power supply. In this method, ethanol was used instead of the hazardous methanol. Most of the protein bands became visible in 30 min. After a secondary destaining step, residual CBB was completely destained. The detection limit for a tested protein (5 ng) was higher than that of the conventional method. Therefore, this method is superior in its speed, safety, low cost, and sensitivity.