Coomassie Blue R-250 metachromatic staining of histone 5 from goose and chicken erythrocytes

Coomassie blue as a near-infrared fluorescent stain: a systematic comparison with Sypro Ruby for in-gel protein detection

Quantitative proteome analyses suggest that the well-established stain colloidal Coomassie Blue, when used as an infrared dye, may provide sensitive, post-electrophoretic in-gel protein detection that can rival even Sypro Ruby. Considering the central role of two-dimensional gel electrophoresis in top-down proteomic analyses, a more cost effective alternative such as Coomassie Blue could prove an important tool in ongoing refinements of this important analytical technique. To date, no systematic characterization of Coomassie Blue infrared fluorescence detection relative to detection with SR has been reported. Here, seven commercial Coomassie stain reagents and seven stain formulations described in the literature were systematically compared. The selectivity, threshold sensitivity, inter-protein variability, and linear-dynamic range of Coomassie Blue infrared fluorescence detection were assessed in parallel with Sypro Ruby. Notably, several of the Coomassie stain formulations provided infrared fluorescence detection sensitivity to <1 ng of protein in-gel, slightly exceeding the performance of Sypro Ruby. The linear dynamic range of Coomassie Blue infrared fluorescence detection was found to significantly exceed that of Sypro Ruby. However, in two-dimensional gel analyses, because of a blunted fluorescence response, Sypro Ruby was able to detect a few additional protein spots, amounting to 0.6% of the detected proteome. Thus, although both detection methods have their advantages and disadvantages, differences between the two appear to be small. Coomassie Blue infrared fluorescence detection is thus a viable alternative for gel-based proteomics, offering detection comparable to Sypro Ruby, and more reliable quantitative assessments, but at a fraction of the cost.

Differential staining of collagens and non-collagens with Coomassie Brilliant Blue G and R

The following proteins were subjected to electrophoresis in SDS gels and stained with both Coomassie Brilliant Blue R and Coomassie Brilliant Blue G: the pepsin-treated collagen types I, II, III and V, and non-pepsin-treated type IV collagen, and the non-collagens, laminin, fibronectin, myosin, beta-galactosidase, fibrin, phosphorylase b and serum albumin. The Coomassie Brilliant Blue G stain was formulated as in the dye-binding protein assay reagent of Bradford (Anal. Biochem. 72: 248-254, 1976). Coomassie Brilliant Blue R prominently stained all polypeptides, but the collagen chains, including the type IV chains, stained metachromatically (red or pink) while the non-collagens stained orthochromatically (blue-violet). In the Bradford reagent, however, only the non-collagens and the intact type IV chains were prominently stained; the pepsin-treated collagen chains were virtually undetectable provided that detergent had been exhaustively removed prior to immersion in the stain. Metachromatic staining with Coomassie Brilliant Blue R is attributed to the presence of closely-spaced proline and hydroxyproline residues in sequences from triple-helical domains. The staining of type IV chains with the Bradford reagent is attributed to the presence of binding sites in the sequences from the non-triple-helical domains only, since such binding sites are absent from chains derived from the pepsin-treated collagens.