( New optical filter for Eagle Eye II...)Optimized Imaging of Protein Gels Stained with Coomassie,,,Brilliant Blue Dye

New optical filter for Eagle Eye II still video system

Optimized Imaging of Protein Gels Stained with Coomassie Brilliant Blue Dye

Michelle Cayouette Jane Moores
Stratagene Cloning Systems, Inc.

Stratagene currently provides an optical bandpass filter with all Eagle Eye II still video systems that is optimized for visualizing ethidium bromide fluorescence. However, a single filter specifically designed for ethidium bromide may be inadequate for use with other fluorophores or stains. In this report, we describe an optical filter designed for use with protein gels stained with Coomassie brilliant blue dye. The Coomassie blue bandpass filter enhances contrast and sensitivity for stained protein gels when compared to the ethidium bromide-optimized filter. Sensitivity was further increased when Coomassie blue-stained gels were imaged using a combination of the Coomassie blue-optimized filter and overhead illumination with the gel resting on top of a piece of white acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plastic. The addition of the Coomassie blue bandpass filter expands the line of optical filters to the Eagle Eye II system optimized for specific applications.

Optical filters are placed in front of a camera lens to isolate or enhance the contrast between specific wavelengths of light. Stratagenes line of optical filters for the Eagle Eye II still video system currently consists of two filters. The bandpass filter, provided as part of the Eagle Eye II still video system, is designed to maximally overlap the emission spectrum of ethidium bromide, a fluorophore that emits orange light upon excitation with ultraviolet light. This ethidium bromide-optimized filter preferentially allows orange fluorescent light to pass to the charge-coupled camera (CCD) camera, excluding all non-orange wavelengths of the spectrum. The other
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