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Updated: Jul 11, 2026

Fluorescent Silver Staining of Proteins in Polyacrylamide Gels
Published on: April 21, 2019
Ultrasensitive staining-free protein detection after PAA gel electrophoresis using deep UV fluorescence
Eugene Riaplov1, Qiang Li, Stefan Seeger
1Institute of Physical Chemistry, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
Abstract:
We present the observation of separated protein bands after polyacrylamide (PAA) gel electrophoresis based on the staining-free detection of their ultra violet (UV)-induced fluorescence employing deep UV confocal fluorescence microscopy. Mixtures of the three biological compounds beta-Galactosidase (from Escherichia coli), apo-Transferrin (bovine) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) have been separated and a staining free detection limit below 80 pg (7.0 x 10(8) molecules) per band has been achieved. This corresponds to approximately 270 molecules in the detection volume for confocal microscopy.
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