A slight variation on this theme is to use 0.5% toluidine blue (in water) as a
stain. A 2 to 5 minute soak followed by destaining in hot water for a few
minutes is all that is required.
On Tue, 11 Dec 2007 12:14:27 -0600
Paul Paukstelis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Rongjin,
This may not work for you if your RNA is very small, but I have used the
coomassie stain described here:
http://newjournal.kcsnet.or.kr/main/j_search/j_download.htm?code=B021105
to stain dissolved complex crystals run on SDS-PAGE gels. I have found
that it efficiently stains nucleic acids as well as proteins. It takes
about 24 hours for the stain to reach maximum intensity for the nucleic
acids.
--paul
Rongjin Guan wrote:
> Dear All
>
> I am trying to co-crystallize a protein and dsRNA complex, and looking
> for methods
> to detect RNA in the crystals. I am thinking about using Mass Spectrum,
> Nanodrop to
> measure OD280/260, etc, but I wonder if ther are some more sensitive and
> reliable ways.
>
> The crystals are grown in high concentration salts; the size is usually
> small but I do
> have several big ones which can be easily fished out. They can be dyed
> so definitely
> not salt crystals.
>
> Thanks
>
> Rongjin Guan
--
Paul Paukstelis, Ph.D.
Research Associate
Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology
The University of Texas at Austin
P: 512-471-4778, F: 512-232-3420
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
