Pierce™ Power Stainer Welcome Pack - FAQs

Here are possible causes and solutions:

- Inefficient washing of gel. Wash Mini gel at least once for 5 mins and Midi gel twice for 5 mins each in water. When staining 2 Mini gels simultaneously, wash each Mini gel 2 x 5 mins in water.
- Insufficient staining / destaining time. Add additional 30 seconds to 1 minute of staining / destaining time. Or, destain the gel in water for additional time.
- Air bubbles trapped between gel and the pads. When assembling staining stack, use a roller or pipette to remove any air bubbles between the gel and the pads.

Find additional tips, troubleshooting help, and resources within our Protein Assays and Analysis Support Center.

This is likely due to the stain time being too long. We recommend decreasing the stain time by 30 sec or 1 min.

Find additional tips, troubleshooting help, and resources within our Protein Assays and Analysis Support Center.

Here are possible causes and solutions:

- Inefficient washing of gel. Wash Mini gel at least once for 5 mins and Midi gel twice for 5 mins each in water. When staining 2 Mini gels simultaneously, wash each Mini gel 2 x 5 mins in water.
- Insufficient staining/destaining time. Add additional 30 seconds to 1 minute of staining / destaining time. Or, destain the gel in water for additional time.
- Air bubbles trapped between gel and the pads. When assembling staining stack, use a roller or pipette to remove any air bubbles between the gel and the pads.

Find additional tips, troubleshooting help, and resources within our Protein Assays and Analysis Support Center.

No. During the staining, the proteins are fixed to the gel thus the western blotting results would not be optimal. The unstained gel should be used for western blotting.

Find additional tips, troubleshooting help, and resources within our Protein Electrophoresis and Western Blotting Support Center.

Yes. It is compatible with mass spectrometry with similar results to conventional Coomassie staining.

Find additional tips, troubleshooting help, and resources within our Protein Electrophoresis and Western Blotting Support Center.

Gels stained using the Power Stainer can be stored in a plastic protective sheet or in water for up to 4 hours without loss of signal.

Find additional tips, troubleshooting help, and resources within our Protein Electrophoresis and Western Blotting Support Center.

Yes. Just place the gel in the Coomassie stain for 30-60 minutes and destain according to the manufacturer's protocol.

Find additional tips, troubleshooting help, and resources within our Protein Electrophoresis and Western Blotting Support Center.

No. The Thermo Scientific Power Stainer requires the optimized and proprietary Power Stain Solution and Destain Solution.

Find additional tips, troubleshooting help, and resources within our Protein Electrophoresis and Western Blotting Support Center.

No. The system will not work with regular Coomassie stain.

Find additional tips, troubleshooting help, and resources within our Protein Electrophoresis and Western Blotting Support Center.

Coomassie R-250 dye is used. When optimized voltage is applied to the platinum-coated anode and stainless steel cathode, the negative charge of Coomassie R-250 dye causes it to travel through the gel and bind to the proteins. Unbound dye continues through and out of the gel matrix to destain the background.

Find additional tips, troubleshooting help, and resources within our Protein Assays and Analysis Support Center.

No. The Mini and Midi Gel Pads (8 layers per pad) are required to be used with the Thermo Scientific Power Stainer, Power Stain Solution and Destain Solution. The gel pads act as reservoirs for Power Stain Solution and Destain Solution. Standard western blotting filter paper will cause uneven staining and patchy background.

Find additional tips, troubleshooting help, and resources within our Protein Assays and Analysis Support Center.

No. For the best results, use freshly prepared staining and destaining pads. Discard the used pads after each staining.

Find additional tips, troubleshooting help, and resources within our Protein Assays and Analysis Support Center.

Thermo Scientific Power Staining Kits have enough material for 30 Mini gels or 15 Midi gels using the corresponding kit.

Find additional tips, troubleshooting help, and resources within our Protein Assays and Analysis Support Center.

Mini gels with dimensions of 7 x 8.4 mm and Midi gels with dimensions of 8 x 13.5 cm are compatible with Mini and Midi gel pads. Gel thickness of 1 mm is the most common. Gels with a thickness greater or less than 1 mm would require time optimization.

Find additional tips, troubleshooting help, and resources within our Protein Assays and Analysis Support Center.

The Thermo Scientific Power Stainer Cassette accommodates the staining for 1 or 2 Mini gels or 1 Midi gel.

Find additional tips, troubleshooting help, and resources within our Protein Assays and Analysis Support Center.

Detection limits are similar to those of commercially available protein stains (approximately 0.01 to 50 µg of pure protein).

Find additional tips, troubleshooting help, and resources within our Protein Assays and Analysis Support Center.

The Thermo Scientific Power Stainer (Cat. No. 22833) consists of a Thermo Scientific Power Station (Cat. No. 22838) with activated Staining Software and a Thermo Scientific Power Stain Cassette (Cat. No. 22836). It is designed for rapid Coomassie staining of proteins in polyacrylamide gels and subsequent removal of stain from the gel background. Traditional Coomassie staining techniques require one hour to overnight of staining and destaining to achieve the desired results. When used in conjunction with Thermo Scientific Midi and Mini Gel Power Staining Kits, the Thermo Scientific Power Stainer is designed to provide staining efficiency in as few as 6 minutes that is equivalent to, or better than, traditional Coomassie staining techniques. This significant reduction in protein staining time is accomplished by fixing the protein to the gel and electrophoretically transporting the negatively charge Coomassie R250 dye rapidly through the gel matrix. The dye passes through the polyacrylamide and ionically binds to the protein, resulting in crisp blue bands with minimal background. The system has been verified to work with commonly used pre-cast and homemade SDS-PAGE gels.

Find additional tips, troubleshooting help, and resources within our Protein Assays and Analysis Support Center.