Silver Staining of 2-D Gels

Abstract

Proteomics, in its commonly used meaning, refers to the detection of differentially expressed proteins between control and experimental samples. The basic tools include two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) for protein fractionation followed by mass spectrometry (MS) of excised protein spots for protein identification. After separation, proteins need to be detected on the gel, meaning the spot pattern has to be distinguished from the surrounding background. This is generally performed directly in the polyacrylamide gel by binding a dye molecule to the proteins.