Electrophoresis is an incredibly popular technique. Within the last 30 years, electrophoresis has rapidly evolved from a high resolution method of relatively limited application into a widely used analytical technique of unrivaled resolving power and exceptional versatility. “It is probably no exaggeration to say that well over half the papers and perhaps as many as three quarters of all the research papers in the whole field of biochemistry make some use of electrophoresis”. 1

Currently, the most commonly used electrophoresis technique is SDS PAGE (Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate Poly-Acrylamide Gel Electrophoresis). SDS solubilizes proteins by coating them with a uniform negative charge, disrupting the majority of noncovalent bonds and reducing their hydrophobicity.

SDS treatment largely removes differences between proteins in both charge and conformation, making size the main determinant of electrophoretic mobility. This is the basis for using SDS electrophoresis to determine the approximate molecular weights of proteins with reference to the mobility of standard proteins on the same gel. The use of gradient gels makes this estimation more accurate by sharpening the bands. This band sharpening is achieved by providing the appropriate gel pore size.

NuSep offers high-quality protein electrophoresis products – precast gels, stains, molecular weight markers and standards, running buffers, and blotting products – for your protein analysis experiments.