Pierce™ Silver Stain for Mass Spectrometry - FAQs

Here are possible causes and solutions:

- Stained gel was overdeveloped. Reduce development time.
- Washing step(s) was missed or poor quality water was used. Do not skip or reduce wash steps and use ultrapure water.
- Contaminated equipment was used. Use clean equipment rinsed with ultrapure water.
- Impure chemical was used for gel preparation or precast gel has expired. Use analytical grade chemicals or use precast gels that have not expired.
- Stop solution was not effective in halting development of gel. Prepare new 5% acetic acid and replace it twice in the first minutes of incubation with the gel.

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

Here are possible causes and solutions:

- Insufficient development time. Develop gel for more than 5 minutes or add freshly prepared Developer Working Solution.
- Minimal or no protein present in sample. Check protein concentration in the original sample.
- Improper solution preparation or skipped steps. Check solution preparation and follow procedure.
- Excessive water wash before development step. Wash gel three times for 10 minutes each to completely remove the previous solutions and redo the staining procedure starting at step 2. Do not over wash prior to incubation in the developer.

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

After using the Thermo Scientific Silver Stain for Mass Spectrometry, proteins can be recovered and processed by several methods for mass spec analysis. For in-gel trypsin digestion, with or without reduction and alkylation, use the Thermo Scientific In-Gel Tryptic Digest Kit (Cat No. 89871). Consider following the recommendations of the core facility that will be performing the mass spec analysis.

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

The Thermo Scientific Silver Stain for Mass Spectrometry provides subnanogram sensitivity, detecting proteins at less than 0.25 ng per band in 30 mins after fixing.

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

We recommend storing the Thermo Scientific Silver Stain for Mass Spectrometry at room temperature where it is stable for a year.

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