Ten Minute Stain to Detect Proteins in Polyacrylamide Electrophoresis Gels with Direct Red 81 and Amido Black

: Proteins separated by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis need to be stained with organic dyes to be visualized. Once stained the intensity of each stained protein band can be used to compare the differences in protein concentration and to measure the relative concentration of any protein band. The most popular standard protein staining is with Coomassie Blue R-250 which takes an hour to stain proteins to saturation and several hours to remove background staining. Direct Red 81 and Amido Black stain proteins within 2.5 min and staining is complete by 10 min. Here the rapid staining of proteins with Direct Red 81 and Amido Black in comparison to staining with Coomassie Blue R-250 is described.