The Reversible Zinc Stain™ is a single step stain for the rapid detection of proteins resolved by PAGE (native gels or SDS denatured gels). No destaining is necessary.

The stain is based on the interaction of Zinc ions with polyacrylamide and proteins. The stain works by depositing a zinc metal precipitate in the gel which turns the gel opaque white, while the SDS coating on the proteins prevents the stains from binding to the proteins. A negative image of the gel is produced; clear protein bands are detected against a semi-opaque white polyacrylamide background. Protein bands are visualized in as little as 10-15 minutes.

The sensitivity of the Reversible Zinc Stain™ is 0.1-0.5ng BSA protein and does not interfere with electroelution of proteins or alter their biological properties. Gels stained with the Reversible Zinc Stain™ can be destained in 5 minutes before the transfer or electroelution of proteins.

This stain works with native as well as SDS denatured gels and gels containing glycine, tricine and a variety of primary amine containing buffers.  A larger size of the destain for the Reversible Zinc Stain™ is offered for your convenience.

Reversible Zinc Stain™ has a unique property that in some situations makes it far superior than the highly sensitive silver stains. Silver staining, although very sensitive, is known not to detect certain types of proteins, including glycoproteins. Reversible Zinc Stain™, having comparable sensitivity, is able to stain glycoproteins (Figure 1 & 2) and phosphoproteins (Figure 2). Figure 2 shows the difference in glycoprotein staining between a silver stain and Reversible Zinc Stain™. Phosvitin, a phosphoglycoprotein, was resolved on two gels and stained either with a silver stain or Reversible Zinc Stain™. The phosvitin was only detected with the Reversible Zinc Stain™.