Western Blot: What is Western Blotting?

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Overview

Western blotting, also known as immunoblotting or protein blotting, is a core technique in cell and molecular biology. In most basic terms, it is used to detect the presence of a specific protein in a complex mixture extracted from cells or tissue.

Our introduction to western blotting guide provides in depth, step by step information on this ubiquitous technique. Also available is our Western Blot Doctor™, a self-help guide to identify and troubleshoot western blotting problems.

Multiplexing fluorescent western blotting enables multiple proteins to be detected and quantified in a single sample with highly specific and sensitive fluorescent antibodies. Thereby enabling direct protein abundance comparisons and normalization against a control, for instance a housekeeping gene, which is more accurate, easier and time saving as you will no longer have to strip and re-probe. It also preserves your precious sample too.

Discover how Bio-Rad StarBright™ Blue 700 and StarBright Blue 520 Secondary Antibodies can aid benefit your fluorescent multiplexing. Compared to traditional fluorophores  Advantages of StarBright Blue Secondary Antibodies compared to other traditional fluorophores are that they have sensitive fluorescent detection which is a 2- to 4-fold lower limit of detection than traditional fluorophores, with short exposure times (seconds vs. minutes) and are compatible with stain-free gels and other antibodies labeled with traditional fluorophores.

Prefer to use your own antibody? Label your antibody of choice with a StarBright Dye using TrailBlazer™ Tag and StarBright Dye Label Kits. These TrailBlazer Kits use the innovative technology of SpyTag, SpyCatcher and StarBright Dyes that allows you to generate your own high quality labeled antibodies.

In fluorescent western blot, you can expect bright, highly sensitive fluorescent detection with short exposure times when using your TrailBlazer Kit StarBright Dye labeled antibody.

StarBright Blue 700 and 520 are compatible with ChemiDoc™ MP Imaging System and ChemiDoc Go.

Western Blotting Workflow

Western Blotting Workflow

Western workflow streamlines the protocol, increasing accuracy and reliability by incorporating innovative tools throughout.

Learn more about the western workflow.

 

Products for Western Blotting

PrecisionAb 
Western Blotting
Primary Antibodies

Fluorescent Western Blotting Antibodies

ChemiDoc™ MP Imaging System

Clarity™ and Clarity Max™ Western ECL Blotting Substrates