Historically, there have been three consistently used methods for protein staining, zinc copper, silver and Coomassie. Each has pros and cons and typically, the method selected is based upon downstream applications. For example, silver stain is more sensitive to low abundance proteins than Coomassie, but is not compatible with Mass Spec processing. The zinc copper method is also not without fault, as there are issues with sensitivity and proteins visualization.
With the discovery of fluorescent protein dyes, new options were introduced eliminating the problems associated with older, more outdated methods. Sypro Ruby Red (along with many other fluorescent dyes) allows researchers to visualize proteins that were once only seen with silver staining procedures. Unlike silver staining, however, Sypro Ruby Red has a dynamic range of three logs, enabling greater insight into questions related to changes in protein expression. Fluorescent dyes are also an extremely useful tool for 2D gel electrophoresis (2D-GE) in the detection of low abundance protein. The ability to run two different fluorescently labeled protein samples in the same gel has essentially eliminated the complications of 2D analysis.
When I first got my hands on Sypro Ruby Red, I was amazed. I ran my gel, fixed it, stained it, washed it and was looking at my bands in the same day, typically within a few hours. I previously had used silver staining techniques that required overnight incubation, so the improvement with Ruby Red was significant. With the Ruby Red dye, time savings were huge without sacrificing sensitivity. The only problem I ran into was finding equipment to visualize the gel. We weren’t going to pay to get a whole new gel documentation system for one application, so I had to find a lab that would allow me to use their equipment.
Sypro Ruby Red protein dye is a very powerful tool for any lab that is heavily into protein research. Other labs will find the cost of getting a proper gel documentation setup a huge drawback and would be better off sticking with the traditional staining procedures.
Jeffrey Perry
Lab Manager
University of Michigan