Re: gel mush

Katheryn Resing (Katheryn.Resing@Colorado.EDU)
Fri, 15 Jan 1999 10:31:20 +0000

We tested mushing vs cutting into 2-3 pieces and found mushing gave about
30% lower recovery of peptides from myoglobin. And of course, if you lose
some of the gel during mushing, the recovery is lower. We tried several
procedures for mushing, all gave poorer results--placing the sample on top
of a nylon mesh and centrifuging it through the mesh gave the least loss,
the other methods had contact with metal, the more metal contact the higher
the loss. We now only cut sufficiently small to get the gel piece into the
smallest volume in the eppendorf.

You might want to try a skin punch (used for skin biopsies) that can be
used to cut the round spots out of 2D gels--they come in different sizes.
The ones we have tried are called Acupunch from Acuderm (800-327-0015).
Its faster than using a razor blade.

Katheryn Resing