Accelerated Coomassie Blue staining and destaining of SDS-PAGE gels with application of heat

Abstract

Coomassie Brilliant Blue is commonly used for the detection of proteins in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, owing to its reliability and simplicity. Here, we report dramatically decreased protein staining and destaining time, as well as significantly increased detection sensitivity with the application of enhanced heat. The staining time was 5 min at 55, 62.5, or 70°C for a 1.5-mm gel, while it took 45, 45, and 20 min, respectively, for destaining. The staining time could be reduced to 1 min for a 0.8 mm gel stained at 65°C, to 2 min at 60°C and 5 min at 55°C. The destaining of proteins analyzed on a 0.8 mm gel could be accomplished in 8, 15, and 20 min at 65, 60, and 55°C, respectively. Application of heat, thus, enables proteins to be stained and destained rapidly, as well as enhancing detection sensitivity.