A protocol for stripping and reprobing of Western blots originally developed with colorimetric substrate TMB

Western blotting is a widely used analytical technique for detection of specific protein(s) in a given sample of tissue/cell homogenate or extract. Both chemiluminescence (CL) and colorimetric detections can be used for imaging Western blots. Colorimetric substrates offer background free, sensitive, and clean imaging results directly on the blotted membrane and provides more accurate profile with respect to prestained marker. However, blots stained with colorimetric substrates cannot be reused since no stripping protocols have been reported for such blots, thus limiting their reuse for detection of another protein. In the present study, for the first time, we report a novel method of stripping Western blots developed with the colorimetric substrate TMB for detection of a low‐abundant protein and reprobing of these blots after stripping for detection of a more abundant protein through CL procedure. The stripping procedure utilizes a stripping buffer consisting of β‐mercaptoethanol, SDS, and Tris‐HCl and a washing buffer consisting of PBS added with 0.1% Tween‐20 involves a series of steps and facilitates accurate detection of the second protein (i.e., more abundant protein) in the stripped blot through CL. The protocol is reproducible and facilitates saving of precious clinical samples, in addition to saving cost and time as compared to the existing procedures.     

Label-free detection of specific DNA sequence-telomere using unmodified gold nanoparticles as colorimetric probes

A simple and sensitive label-free colorimetric detection of telomere DNA has been developed. It was based on the color change of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) due to DNA hybridization. UV–vis spectra and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to investigate the change of AuNPs. Under the optimized conditions, the linear range for determination of telomere DNA was 5.7 × 10⁻¹³ to 4.5 × 10⁻⁶ mol/L. The detection limit (3σ) of this method has decreased to pico-molar level.     

Colorimetric Determination of Seleniumin Various Environmental Samples

A new reagent system using rhodamine‐B dye for the determination of selenium is described. The method is based on the reaction of selenium with acidified potassium iodide to liberate iodine. The liberated iodine bleaches the pink colour rhodamine‐B, which is measured at 555 nm. Beer's law is obeyed over the concentration range of 1–10 μg of selenium final solution volume of 25 mL (0.04–0.4 ppm) and the apparent molar absorptivity and Sandell's sensitivity was found to be 1.96× 10⁵ l mol^?1 cm^?1 and 0.0004 μg cm^?2, respectively. The method is simple, sensitive, and selective and is satisfactorily applied to micro‐level determination of selenium in various environmental and cosmetic samples.     

智能手机光学检测技术用于检测水体中污染物的研究

数字图像比色法(Digital Image Colorimetry,DIC)作为一种传感器方法具有简易、灵敏、成本低廉的优点,广泛应用于环境监测、化学及生物化学等领域。以LED面光源作为数字图像比色法的光源对六价铬水样进行了检测,显色反应后的溶液通过手机免费软件获取R(红)、G(绿)、B(蓝)颜色值。由于RGB模型为非均匀的颜色参数,故把R、G、B值转化为不同的数学模型,并比较各种数学模型所得出的标准曲线的线性相关性,其中灰度吸光度模型的线性相关系数最高(R~2=0.999 2)。检测方法的线性范围为0.02～1.0mg/L,检出限为0.006mg/L,加标回收率为96.5%～107%,方法具有简便快捷、灵敏度高,适用于快速现场检测。     

Ascorbic acid supported Carboxymethyl cellulose stabilized silver nanoparticles as optical nanoprobe for Au3+ detection in environmental sample

Heavy metals (HMs), pollution of major environmental matrices and its attendant effects on human health and the environment, continue to generate huge scientific interest, particularly in monitoring and detection. Herein, the optical property of carboxymethyl cellulose stabilized silver nanoparticles (CMC-AgNPs), supported with ascorbic acid, is exploited as a colorimetric probe for the detection of toxic Au³⁺ ion in solution. The as-synthesized CMC-AgNPs showed sharp absorption maximum at 403 nm, with sparkling yellow color and average particles size distribution less than 10 nm. It was further characterized using ATR-FTIR, TEM, FESEM/EDS, XRD and DLS/zeta potential analyzer. Au³⁺ ion detection strategy involves the addition of ascorbic acid (AA) to a pH adjusted CMC-AgNPs, followed by the analyte addition. AA would facilitate the reduction of Au³⁺ on CMC-AgNPs (seed), with resultant color perturbations from light yellow to yellow, orange, ruby red and purple red, under 8 min incubation, at room temperature (RT). The CMC-AgNPs could also serve as a catalyst, by promoting AA mediated reduction of Au³⁺, in-situ. Moreover, we propose, that the color and the absorption spectra change is attributed to the deposition of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), on the CMC-AgNPs/AA probe, to form (CMC-Ag@Au) nanostructures, depending on the analyte concentration. Absorbance ratio (A₅₄₀/A₄₀₃) showed good linearity with Au³⁺ concentration from 0.25 to 100.0 µM, and an estimated LOD of 0.061 µM. The assay was applied to Au³⁺ detection in environmental wastewater sample, showing satisfactory real sample detection potentiality.