Western blotting is a commonly used technique for studying protein function and localization. Typically, protein samples are electro-phoresed on SDS-PAGE and transferred to a membrane such as nitrocellulose or nylon, where they are probed with specific antibodies. Unlike nucleic acid based technologies, which allow reuse of Southern and Northern blots, it has been difficult to reuse Western blots.
Stripping and re-probing of Western blots offers several advantages:
- Conservation of samples that are expensive or available only in limited quantities,
- Analysis of a given blot using several different antibodies, e.g. subtype- or isoform-specific antibodies,
- Re-analysis of anomalous results and confirmation with the same or a different antibody,
- Correcting errors in incubation with the wrong antibody,
- Cost savings in reagents and time by reusing the same blot.
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