Stains-all explained

Stains-all is a carbocyanine dye, which stains anionic proteins, nucleic acids, anionic polysaccharides and other anionic molecules.^{[1] [2]}

Properties

Stains-all is metachromatic and changes its color dependent on its contact to other molecules.^[3] The detection limit for phosphoproteins is below 1 ng after one hour of staining,^[4] for anionic polysaccharides between 10 and 500 ng.^{[5] [6]} Highly anionic proteins are stained blue, proteoglycans purple and anionic proteins pink.^[7] RNA is stained blueish-purple with a detection limit of 90 ng and DNA is stained blue with a detection limit of 3 ng.^[8]

Stains-all is light sensitive, therefore the staining is performed in the absence of light and photographed immediately. Staining of proteins can be improved by a subsequent silver stain. The analogue Ethyl-Stains-all has similar properties as stains-all, with differences in solubility and staining properties.^[9]

Applications

Stains-all stains nucleic acids, anionic proteins, anionic polysaccharides such as alginate and pectinate,^[10] hyaluronic acid and dermatan sulfate, heparin, heparan sulfate and chondroitin sulfate. It is used in SDS-PAGE, agarose gel electrophoresis and histologic staining, e.g. staining of growth lines in bones.^[11]

References

1. 4128675. 1973. Green. M. R.. Differential staining of phosphoproteins on polyacrylamide gels with a cationic carbocyanine dye. Analytical Biochemistry. 56. 1. 43–51. Pastewka. J. V.. Peacock. A. C.. 10.1016/0003-2697(73)90167-x.
2. 10.1006/abio.1996.0361. 8811925. A Method for Enhancing the Sensitivity and Stability of Stains-All for Phosphoproteins Separated in Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate–Polyacrylamide Gels. Analytical Biochemistry. 240. 2. 300–302. 1996. Myers. Jody M.. Veis. Arthur. Sabsay. Boris. Wheeler. A.P..
3. 2480348. 1989. Sharma. Y.. Binding site conformation dictates the color of the dye stains-all. A study of the binding of this dye to the eye lens proteins crystallins. The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 264. 35. 20923–7. Rao. C. M.. Rao. S. C.. Krishna. A. G.. Somasundaram. T.. Balasubramanian. D.. 10.1016/S0021-9258(19)30024-9. free.
4. 24114871. 2013. Cong. W. T.. Improved staining of phosphoproteins with high sensitivity in polyacrylamide gels using Stains-All. Electrophoresis. 34. 24. 3277–86. Ye. W. J.. Chen. M.. Zhao. T.. Zhu. Z. X.. Niu. C.. Ruan. D. D.. Ni. M. W.. Zhou. X.. Jin. L. T.. 10.1002/elps.201300328. 1412613.
5. N15866501. 2005. Volpi. N.. Simultaneous detection of submicrogram quantities of hyaluronic acid and dermatan sulfate on agarose-gel by sequential staining with toluidine blue and Stains-All. Journal of Chromatography. B, Analytical Technologies in the Biomedical and Life Sciences. 820. 1. 131–5. MacCari. F.. Titze. J.. 10.1016/j.jchromb.2005.03.028.
6. 12481260. 2002. Volpi. N.. Detection of submicrogram quantities of glycosaminoglycans on agarose gels by sequential staining with toluidine blue and Stains-All. Electrophoresis. 23. 24. 4060–6. MacCari. F.. 10.1002/elps.200290021. 22945783.
7. 9299020. 1997. Goldberg. H. A.. The staining of acidic proteins on polyacrylamide gels: Enhanced sensitivity and stability of "Stains-all" staining in combination with silver nitrate. Analytical Biochemistry. 251. 2. 227–33. Warner. K. J.. 10.1006/abio.1997.2252.
8. Sigma-Aldrich: MSDS Stains-All ~95%, accessed May 16, 2015.
9. 90067. 1979. Green. M. R.. The cationic carbocyanine dyes Stains-all DBTC, and Ethyl-Stains-all, DBTC-3,3',9 triethyl. The Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry . 27. 3. 797–9. Pastewka. J. V.. 10.1177/27.3.90067. free.
10. 1711507. 1991. Krishna. A. G.. Conformation of alginate and pectate chains monitored by the binding of the dye stains-all. Indian Journal of Biochemistry & Biophysics. 28. 1. 30–3. Sharma. Y..
11. 1716999. 1991. Gruber. H. E.. Application of stains-all for demarcation of cement lines in methacrylate embedded bone. Biotechnic & Histochemistry . 66. 4. 181–4. Mekikian. P.. 10.3109/10520299109109966.