AcquaStain Protein Gel Stain
Never Wash or Destain Again
Like Coomassie Blue only simpler
AcquaStain is a single-step Coomassie Blue protein gel dye. This novel product doesn’t require pre- or post-treatment of the gel. Just run your protein gel, add the stain, and watch your bands appear in several seconds—no destaining required! AcquaStain also contains no harmful chemicals or acids, so it’s much safer than other dyes. It can even be disposed of in the sink after staining! Unlike many other stains, AcquaStain is a water-based product, which means that it causes no observable shrinkage or wrinkling of the gel. Better yet, unlike methanol-based stains, proteins isolated from AcquaStain treated gels are 100% compatible with mass spectrometry analysis.
One-step in 10 minutes
Other “fast” gel staining technologies require expensive equipment or trade speed for reduced clarity of the protein bands. AcquaStain doesn’t. And no other “fast” product is as fast, either—the entire staining procedure can be completed in about 10 minutes (for typical protein amounts). Don’t worry, though; it’s impossible to over-saturate with this product, so you can safely incubate overnight with no harmful effects. Only AcquaStain provides a reasonably-priced reagent without the need for an external apparatus while delivering a super-sensitive signal—equivalent to or better than the best Coomassie-based reagents on the market. Protein bands really stand out, too, because the gel background remains crystal clear. AcquaStain is a teal color that’s totally free from precipitate. Shaking before use is not necessary. It’s like nothing you’ve tried before.
Perfect for teaching labs
With the capacity to run and stain protein gels during a typical one hour wet-lab class, this stain is right at home in the teaching lab. Want to make things even easier? Try our inexpensive, easy, and portable gel documentation systems!
Additional Information
“I am very happy with the AcquaStain … it does seem much more sensitive than my home made coomassie stain, with the additional benefit of no destaining.”
Sundeep, URMC, 2023
“AcquaStain is my go to protein stain for day to day use. The fact that it has low background staining makes staining gels a less painful experience.”
Jewett Lab, Northwestern University, 2022
“AcquaStain offered a much simpler workflow for staining our gels with improved contrast! We will happily convert our standard Coomassie stain / de-stain procedure to an AcquaStain procedure!”
Stephen, Biotech Company, 2022
“It works very nicely and it’s great that we don’t have to use methanol based destain … It really is a vast improvement in terms of time and waste.”
Martin, The Rockefeller University, 2019
“It works very well. It enabled some mass spectrometry experiments where we needed the sensitivity of silver staining but needed something compatible with mass spec. It was perfect for it.”
Chad, Ohio State University, 2017
Customer Data
Product Comparison
|
PRODUCT
|
NO PREWASH
|
NO DESTAIN
|
# OF STEPS
|
TOTAL TIME
|
SAFE DISPOSAL
|
CONC. LINEARITY
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AcquaStain Protein Gel Stain |  |
|
1
|
10 min
|
|
R2=0.98
|
| Bio-Safe Coomassie Stain |
3
|
60-120 min
|
|
R2=0.71
|
||
| EZBlue Gel Stain |
3
|
120-360 min
|
|
R2=0.91
|
||
| Gelcode Safe Blue Protein Stain |
4
|
90-360+ min
|
|
R2=0.98
|
||
| Simply Blue SafeStain |
3
|
360-420 min
|
|
R2=0.92 |
Additional Information
1) Cut out protein band and place in microfuge tube
2) Add 1 ml 30% ethanol or 30% acetone (30% acetic acid may be used but will result in acetylation of N-terminus).
3) Incubate for 30 minutes.
4) Repeat steps 2 and 3 until all stain removed from protein (typically 2 or 3 washes are required for complete stain removal)
5) Process as typical for mass spec analysis.
AcquaStain will show greater signal even at low concentration of protein (60ng) within 10-15 minutes and down to 10ng (longer incubation). The signal generated by this stain is linear, enabling true quantitation of your sample.
AcquaStain shows a 50 fold greater signal when compared to a leading competitor
AcquaStain Protein Gel Stain
|
SPECIFICATIONS
|
|
|---|---|
| Contents | 1x 1000 ml bottle of liquid stain |
| Part Numbers | AS001000, AS001006 |
| Toxicity | Non-toxic (water-based) |
| Detection Limit | Down to 10 ng of protein |
| Protocol Steps | 1 step |
| Protocol Time | 2 min stain time (down to 1 µg)
10 min stain time (down to 100 ng) 60 min stain time (down to 10 ng) |
| Suitable for Gel Drying | Yes. See Q11 in FAQ section. |
| Suitable for Mass Spec | Yes. See Q10 in FAQ section. |
| Reuseable | Yes. 2-3 times |
| Storage | 1 year at 4°C |