Novex™ Tris-Glycine Mini Protein Gels, 14%, 1.0 mm, WedgeWell™ format, 10 gels (1 box) - FAQs

The Novex WedgeWell 14%, Tris‐Glycine Mini Protein Gels have a cassette dimension of 10 cm X 10 cm. These gels are meant to be run in the XCell SureLock Mini‐Cell (Cat. No. EI0001: https://www.thermofisher.com/order/catalog/product/EI0001?SID=srch-srp-EI0001) and cannot be run in the Bio‐Rad mini‐PROTEAN Tetra cell for western blot and SDS-PAGE.

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We do not recommend using gels past their expiration date because over time, the polyacrylamide hydrolyzes to acrylic acid and ammonia and this will affect the resolution of the proteins. Breakdown of polyacrylamide matrix is identified by:
- Ghost bands and doublets, seen first in the high molecular weight proteins
- Smiling of dye front across the gel, with bands in outer lanes becoming very slanted - proteins run slower there due to change in pH and pore size over time.


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This is not really recommended, but it is always possible to increase run time by lowering the voltage of the run. In general, the relationships are linear - i.e., decreasing voltage by half will double the run time.

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If you are running the gel at constant voltage, you do not need to increase the voltage regardless of the thickness of the gel.

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Using constant voltage allows the current and power to decrease during the run, providing a safety margin in case of a break in the system. Having lower power is a safety benefit and will also decrease the chances of experiencing an overheating of the gel. Further, the constant voltage setting does not need adjustment to account for differences in number or thickness of gels being run.

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No. Novex WedgeWell gels must be stored at 4 degrees C.

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The Novex WedgeWell gels can use standard Tris-Glycine sample and running buffers. For running under native conditions, we recommend using sample and running buffers that do not contain SDS (such as our Native Tris-Glycine premade buffers).

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We were able to optimize shelf life through a proprietary gel formulation change. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide specific details on the chemical changes.

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We use what we call ‘mirror printing', the same way we do for Bolt gels. This means that when the gel is loaded in the Mini Gel Tank, the text will face in the readable direction (left to right).

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Yes, the new Novex WedgeWell gels can be run in the XCell SureLock Mini-Cell.

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The most common cause of abnormally high current is the transfer buffer. If the transfer buffer is too concentrated, this leads to increased conductivity and current. High current may also occur if Tris-HCl is accidentally substituted for the Tris base required in the transfer buffer. This will again result in low buffer pH and lead to increased conductivity and current and subsequently, overheating. We recommend checking the transfer buffer and its reagent components and re-diluting or remaking the buffer.

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NuPAGE gels have the following advantages over Tris-Glycine gels:

*Higher stability and longer shelf life: NuPAGE Bis-Tris gels and NuPAGE Tris-Acetate gels have a lower operating pH (pH 7 for NuPAGE Bis-Tris gels and pH 8.1 for NuPAGE Tris-Acetate gels) than Invitrogen Tris-Glycine gels (pH 9.5). At basic pH, polyacrylamide hydrolyzes to polyacrylic acid and ammonia whereas at neutral pH, this hydrolysis is slower. Hence, NuPAGE gels have higher stability and longer shelf life than Invitrogen Tris-Glycine gels (12 months at 4-25 degrees C for NuPAGE Bis-Tris gels and 8 months at 4 degrees C for NuPAGE Tris-Acetate gels vs 4-8 weeks at 4 degrees C for Tris-Glycine gels).

*Better resolution of proteins due to:

- Reduced undesired chemical modifications: Free acrylamide alkylates proteins at basic pH (8.5 to 9.0). It targets sulfhydryl cysteines and amine groups at the N-terminus and on lysines. This modification does not happen at pH below 8. Hence, proteins run on NuPAGE gels undergo fewer of these undesired chemical modifications than those run on Tris-Glycine gels.

- Reduced hydrolysis of proteins: Heating of Tris-Glycine sample buffer (pH 6.8) results in a drop in pH, causing Asp-Pro cleavage of proteins. High temperature and longer duration of heating/boiling increase the rate of this cleavage resulting in multiple peptide bands of decreased intensity. At 100 degrees C, the pH drops as low as pH 4.3. On the other hand, NuPAGE LDS sample buffer (pH 8.5) drops to pH 8.1 when heated to 70 degrees C, avoiding this cleavage.

*Faster run times: 35-50 min for NuPAGE Bis-Tris gels and 1 hour for NuPAGE Tris-Acetate gels vs 90 min for Tris-Glycine gels

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The operating pH for Tris-Glycine gels is 9.5; the operating pH for NuPAGE Bis-Tris gels is 7 and for NuPAGE Tris-Acetate gels is 8.1.

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To run Mini gels with 10 cm gel cassettes using a Bolt Mini Gel Tank (without replacement of 10.5 cm cassette clamp cam handles with 10 cm cassette clamp cam handles), please use the instructions provided on Page 22 of the manual (https://tools.thermofisher.com/content/sfs/manuals/mini_gel_tank_man.pdf).

Note: For optimal results, to run 10 cm cassette Mini gels with a Bolt Mini Gel Tank, one should replace the black 10.5 cm cassette clamp cam handles on the Bolt Mini Gel Tank with gray 10 cm cassette clamp cam handles (Cat. No. A26732). Instructions for replacement of the cam handles can be found on Page 20 of the manual (http://www.thermofisher.com/us/en/home/life-science/protein-biology/protein-gel-electrophoresis/protein-gel-electrophoresis-chamber-systems/mini-gel-tank/resources-upgrading-bolt-mini-gel-tank.html) or in this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FtiX8Skllw).

Additional resources can be found here (https://www.thermofisher.com/us/en/home/life-science/protein-biology/protein-gel-electrophoresis/protein-gel-electrophoresis-chamber-systems/mini-gel-tank/resources-upgrading-bolt-mini-gel-tank.html).

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Midi gels can be transferred using:

*iBlot Dry Blotting System in conjunction with Transfer Stacks
*Invitrogen Semi-Dry Blotter for simultaneous transfer of up to 2 Midi-gels
*Thermo Scientific Power Blotter for simultaneous transfer of up to 2 Midi gels
*Thermo Scientific G2 Fast Blotter (will be discontinued as soon as we exhaust current inventory).

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All detergents, or even phospholipids in cell extracts, will form mixed micelles with SDS and migrate down into the gel. They can also interfere with the SDS:protein binding equilibrium. Most of the non-ionic detergents, including NP-40, are the worst at interfering with SDS-PAGE. The rule of thumb is to keep the ratio of SDS to lipid or other detergent at 10:1 or greater to minimize these effects.

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All Invitrogen protein gels contain sucrose as a density-adjusting agent to facilitate pouring of the gel. Protein samples run on Invitrogen gels would be contaminated with large amounts of sucrose. Thus, Invitrogen gels are not recommended for this application.

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The cassettes are made of a styrene copolymer.

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We do not recommend recycling our plastic cassettes because they have a chemical coating on them that may produce toxic fumes when melted and potentially cause contamination.

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Midi gels are wider than Mini gels and hence have a larger number of wells to accommodate additional samples in one gel. An experiment from a Mini gel can be easily scaled-up to a Midi gel of the same gel chemistry.

Midi gels:
*NuPAGE Bis-Tris, NuPAGE Tris-Acetate, & Invitrogen Tris-Glycine: Gel dimensions are 13cm x 8.3cm and Cassette dimensions are 15cm x 10.3cm.

Mini gels:
*NuPAGE Bis-Tris, NuPAGE Tris-Acetate, & Invitrogen Tris-Glycine: Gel dimensions are 8cm x 8cm and Cassette dimensions are 10cm x 10cm.
*New Bolt Bis-Tris Plus (Cat. No. NWxxxxxBOX): Gel dimensions are 8cm x 8.3cm and Cassette Dimensions are 10cm x10cm.
*Original Bolt Bis-Tris Plus (Cat. No. BGxxxxxBOX): Gel dimensions are 8cm x 8.3cm and Cassette Dimensions are 10cm x 10.5cm.

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All of our Invitrogen precast protein gels (NuPAGE gels, Bolt Bis-Tris Plus gels, and Novex gels) are available in Mini format. Our Mini gel dimensions are 8 cm x 8 cm and the cassette dimensions are 10 cm x 10 cm.

Our NuPAGE Bis-Tris, NuPAGE Tris-Acetate, and Novex Tris-Glycine Plus gels are also available in the wider Midi format. Our Midi gel dimensions are 8 cm x 13 cm and the cassette dimensions are 10 cm x 15 cm.

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All our Invitrogen protein gels are available in Mini format. Certain gel chemistries (NuPAGE Bis-Tris, NuPAGE Tris-Acetate, and Invitrogen Tris-Glycine gels) are also available in the wide Midi format.

Note that Bolt Bis-Tris gels are not available in the Midi format and our Thermo Scientific Precise precast gels are only available in Mini format.

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If you are running the gels at constant voltage, you do not need to increase the voltage regardless of the number of gels. However, the resulting current and wattage observed will multiply linearly with the number of gels. Keep in mind that the expected total current for your gels should not exceed the current limit of the power supply, or else the current will plateau and the run will slow down. (For example: Recommended constant voltage for running a NuPAGE Bis-Tris gel with MES Buffer is 200 V, with a starting current of 110-125 mA/gel and end current of 70-80 mA/gel. If the power supply has a current limit of 500 mA, the maximum number of NuPAGE Bis-Tris gels that can be run at one time with full power is 500 mA/125 mA = 4 gels. Any additional gels will decrease the current per gel and increase the run time.

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We recommend using the NativeMark Unstained Protein Standard, Cat. No. LC0725.

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We do not recommend running reduced and non-reduced protein samples on the same gel, especially in adjacent lanes, since the reducing agent may have a carry-over effect on the non-reduced samples if they are in close proximity.

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We do not recommend storing reduced protein samples for long periods of time even if they are frozen because reoxidation of the sample may happen during storage, causing inconsistent results.

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*Tris-Glycine gels (except 4% Tris-Glycine gels) have a 34.5:1 Acrylamide:bisacrylamide and 2.6% Crosslinker.

*4% Tris-Glycine gels have a 76:1 ratio Acrylamide:bisacrylamide and 1.3% Crosslinker.

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The percentage of the stacking gel is 4% in most of our gels including the Bolt Bis-Tris Plus gels. The NuPAGE Tris-Acetate gels contain a 3.2% stacking gel.

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Our Invitrogen precast protein gels contain a stacking gel that is ~8 to 9 mm long (it ends right above the first ridge on the cassette). The manufacturing method used results in an interface between the stacking and resolving gels that is not visually detectable.

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*Tris-Glycine and Invitrogen Tricine Mini gels: see here (http://tools.thermofisher.com/content/sfs/manuals/electrophoresisguide_man.pdf), Page 8

*NuPAGE Tris-Acetate and NuPAGE Bis-Tris Mini gels: see here (http://tools.thermofisher.com/content/sfs/manuals/nupage_tech_man.pdf), Page 10

*Bolt Bis-Tris Plus Mini gels: see here (http://www.thermofisher.com/us/en/home/life-science/protein-biology/protein-gel-electrophoresis/protein-gels/bolt-bis-tris-gels.html)

*Thermo Scientific Precise Tris-HEPES gels: see here (https://tools.thermofisher.com/content/sfs/manuals/MAN0011499_Precise_Protein_Gels_UG.pdf), Page 1

*Midi gels (Invitrogen Tris-Glycine, NuPAGE Bis-Tris and NuPAGE Tris-Acetate): see here (https://assets.thermofisher.com/TFS-Assets/LSG/manuals/novex_midigel_man.pdf), Page 4

*Thermo Scientific Precise Tris-Glycine gels: see here (https://tools.thermofisher.com/content/sfs/manuals/D25MAN0011814_Precise_TrisGlycine_Gels_UG.pdf), Page 1

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Our precast protein gels do not contain SDS but they can be run under denaturing conditions when used with the appropriate denaturing running buffer.
Note: NuPAGE Bis-Tris gels, Bolt Bis-Tris Plus gels, and Thermo Scientific Precise Tris-HEPES gels cannot be run under native conditions; they can only be run under denaturing conditions.

*Invitrogen Tris-Glycine gels: For Native electrophoresis, use Invitrogen Tris-Glycine Native Running Buffer. For Denaturing electrophoresis, use Invitrogen Tris-Glycine SDS Running Buffer

*NuPAGE Tris-Acetate gels: For Native electrophoresis, use Invitrogen Tris-Glycine Native Running Buffer. For Denaturing electrophoresis, use NuPAGE Tris-Acetate SDS Running Buffer

*NuPAGE Bis-Tris gels: For Denaturing electrophoresis, use NuPAGE MOPS-SDS Running Buffer or NuPAGE MES-SDS Running Buffer

*Bolt Bis-Tris Plus gels: For Denaturing electrophoresis, use Bolt MOPS SDS Running Buffer or Bolt MES SDS Running Buffer

*Thermo Scientific Precise Tris-Glycine gels: For Native electrophoresis, use Tris-Glycine SDS Running Buffer without SDS added. For Denaturing electrophoresis, use Tris-Glycine SDS Running Buffer.

*Thermo Scientific Precise Tris-HEPES gels: For Denaturing electrophoresis, use Tris-HEPES SDS Running Buffer.

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