
antibody, antigen, technique, or buffer related where applicable. Therefore, the potential causes and solutions have been organized in this manner, and also with regard to potential problem sources, i.e. Protein synthesis involves the expression of a DNA segment which gets converted to mRNA to produce the respective protein. In most cases, the rest of the troubleshooting issues can be grouped into three major types: no bands, faint bands, and signal on Western blots that interferes with bands. Troubleshooting Western Blotting Brief Introduction: Blotting Techniques The blotting technique is a tool used in the identification of biomolecules such as DNA, mRNA, and protein during different stages of gene expression. Since one issue that commonly arises during Western blotting is the presence of unusual or unexpected bands on the blot, our troubleshooting section begins with a table describing some common reasons and potential solutions for addressing and evaluating this type of problem. Īdditionally, the use of negative and positive controls are of great help in assessing where things have gone wrong, and eliminating some possible sources of error under consideration. As mentioned at the end of Chapter 3, the proper antibody concentration can be determined with the use of dot blots and slot blots, significantly reducing the need for future troubleshooting. Many of these problems can be avoided with careful attention to experimental protocols, and with optimization at key stages throughout the procedure. In this chapter, suggestions are offered to assist in identifying and resolving some frequently encountered problems that arise during the course of Western blotting. When this occurs, it is useful to be able to quickly isolate the possible causes and to formulate an effective solution by troubleshooting the experiment. 3 March 2016.While Western blotting is a relatively simple and straightforward technique, it does not always yield results that meet with expectations. American Association for the Advancement of Science. Instructions for preparing an initial manuscript.American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. (2015) An analysis of critical factors for quantitative immunoblotting. (2015) Considerations when quantitating protein abundance by immunoblot. McDonough AA, Veiras LC, Minas JN, Ralph DL. Challenge: Western blot signal is weak or undetectable Inadequate Protein Binding For western blot troubleshooting weak signal, simply increasing the concentration of antibody and/or extending the incubation time at the appropriate temperature can support adequate binding to the protein of interest by the primary or secondary antibody.Degasperi A, Birtwistle MR, Volinsky N, Rauch J, Kolch W, Kholodenko BN (2014) PLoS ONE.Get in TouchĬontinue reading: Using Chemistry to Get Proportional Signals LI-COR provides products, protocols, and support for Western blotting (and a range of other protein assays) that help reduce variability and increase confidence in your results. What steps can you take today to improve your Western blot results? How many technical and biological replicates do you need?.How will the way you compare and analyze quantified bands affect your results?.What normalization strategy works best for your experimental context?.

Does the amount of protein you are loading allow for accurate quantitation?.What is the dynamic range of your detection system?.

