Glycosaminoglycan blotting and detection after electrophoresis separation

Separation of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) by electrophoresis and their characterization to the microgram level are integral parts of biochemical research. Their blotting on membranes after electrophoresis offers the advantage to perform further analysis on single separated species such as identification with antibodies and/or recovery of single band. A method for the blotting and immobilizing of several nonsulfated and sulfated complex GAGs on membranes made hydrophilic and positively charged by cationic detergent after their separation by conventional agarose-gel electrophoresis is illustrated. This approach to the study of these complex macromolecules utilizes the capacity of agarose-gel electrophoresis to separate single species of polysaccharides from mixtures and the membrane technology for further preparative and analytical uses. Nitrocellulose membranes are derivatized with the cationic detergent cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) and mixtures of GAGs are capillary blotted after their separation in agarose-gel electrophoresis. Single purified species of variously sulfated polysaccharides are transferred on derivatized membranes with an efficiency of 100 % and stained with alcian blue (irreversible staining) and toluidine blue (reversible staining). This enables a lower amount limit of detection of 0.1 μg. Nonsulfated polyanions, for example hyaluronic acid (HA), may also be transferred to membranes with a limit of detection of approximately 0.1-0.5 μg after irreversible or reversible staining. The membranes may be stained with reversible staining and the same lanes used for immunological detection or other applications.