Silver Staining of Proteins in 2DE Gels

TL;DR

This paper reviews silver staining techniques for proteins in 2D electrophoresis gels, highlighting their high sensitivity, simplicity, and stability, with various protocols suitable for different time frames.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of different silver staining variants, detailing their procedures, durations, and stability for protein detection in gels.

Findings

High sensitivity detection in nanogram range

Multiple staining protocols with different time requirements

Stain stability lasts for several weeks

Abstract

Silver staining detects proteins after electrophoretic separation on polyacrylamide gels. Its main positive features are its excellent sensitivity (in the low nanogram range) and the use of very simple and cheap equipment and chemicals. The sequential phases of silver staining are protein fixation, then sensitization, then silver impregnation, and finally image development. Several variants of silver staining are described here, which can be completed in a time range from 2 h to 1 day after the end of the electrophoretic separation. Once completed, the stain is stable for several weeks.