"Microgel diffusion blotting" for sensitive detection of antibodies to extractable nuclear antigens

A fast immunoblotting procedure, termed "microgel diffusion blotting," is used to detect and identify antibodies to extractable nuclear antigens (i.e., to Sm, RNP, and SSB) in patients with rheumatic diseases. The method differs from the standard immunoblotting techniques by the use of ultra-thin microgels for polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis: the very thin gel layer allows transfer of proteins to a nitrocellulose membrane by simple diffusion. Principal advantages of this variant technique are its simplicity, rapidity, and reproducibility--characteristics that make the test suitable for routine application. We compared the sensitivity of the test with that of double immunodiffusion in agarose for the evaluation of humoral antinuclear immunity. Microgel diffusion blotting detected antibodies in serum at concentrations less than 0.001 of those detectable by immunodiffusion.