Transfer in SDS of biotinylated proteins from acrylamide gels to an avidin-coated membrane filter

Abstract

Avidin was covalently linked to aldehyde-derivatized polyethersulfone membrane filters. These filters were used in Western blot analysis of proteins reacted with biotinylation reagents and electrophoresed in sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) on polyacrylamide gels. Electrophoretic transfer from the gels to these filters was in 0.1% SDS, in which the covalently bound avidin retained its biotin-binding capacity. We compared Western blots on avidin-coated membrane filters of biotinylated and nonbiotinylated forms of mouse immunoglobulin G (IgG), mouse IgG heavy chain, muscle-type acetylcholine receptor α subunit, and fused α and β subunits of receptor. Biotinylated proteins were captured with high specificity compared to their nonbiotinylated counterparts and sensitively detected on the avidin-coated membranes.