Mini-PROTEAN® TGX Stain-Free™ Precast Gels are based on the long-shelf-life TGX (Tris-Glycine eXtended) formulation and include unique trihalo compounds that allow rapid fluorescent detection of proteins with Bio-Rad stain-free imaging systems. 

Mini-PROTEAN TGX Stain-Free Precast Gels do not contain SDS. For standard denaturing electrophoresis use sample and running buffers containing SDS. To retain native protein conformation and activity these gels can be run with sample and running buffer that do not contain SDS.

Mini-PROTEAN TGX Stain-Free Gels retain Laemmli-like separation characteristics using standard sample and Tris/glycine running buffers. Protein migration patterns under non-denaturing conditions do not provide accurate molecular weight estimations.

The trihalo compounds in Mini-PROTEAN TGX Stain-Free Gels react with tryptophan residues in proteins in a UV-induced 1-minute reaction to produce fluorescence. The fluorophores remain covalently bound to the proteins throughout electrophoresis and blotting and may be subsequently visualized in gels or on PVDF membranes multiple times for validation in a western blotting workflow. The use of stain-free imaging also allows for the normalization of bands to the total protein on a blot, eliminating the use of housekeeping proteins or stripping and reprobing.

Features & Benefits:

• Run times as short as 15 minutes
• Transfer proteins in as little as 15 minutes; verify transfer to membrane with a stain-free enabled imager
• Inexpensive Laemmli buffer system, low running costs
• Gel images and complete analysis in less than 5 minutes after electrophoresis
• Comparable sensitivity to Coomassie stain
• Better reproducibility and quantitation compared to staining procedures

Applications and Uses of Mini-PROTEAN TGX Stain-Free Precast Gels:

• 1-D polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis for protein separation
• Accurate molecular weight estimation
• Robust system for complex samples
• One gel for western blotting, staining, and mass spectrometry