Pierce Silver Stain for Mass Spectrometry is a complete kit for rapid and ultra-sensitive silver staining of proteins in polyacrylamide gels and efficient destaining of excised gel pieces for mass spectrometry analysis. This kit enables both first-time and experienced users to achieve consistent and reliable staining using high-, low-, and gradient-percentage gels in 1D and 2D formats. The optimized staining method ensures extremely sensitive staining while minimizing covalent crosslinking of protein to the gel matrix, which can inhibit protein recovery. The destaining reagents facilitate complete removal of silver from stained protein bands and maximum protein recovery for subsequent mass spectrometry analysis.

• Sensitivity—0.25 ng per spot in 30 minutes after fixing
• MS compatible—reagents and protocol are optimized to provide excellent performance in mass spectrometry following extraction of peptides from stained 1D or 2D gels (SDS-PAGE)
• Flexible staining protocol—fix gel for 15 to 30 minutes or overnight without any effect on staining performance; stain for 1 to 30 minutes (typically 2 to 3 minutes)
• Compatibility—effective silver stain for even difficult-to-stain basic proteins, such as lysozyme (pI 10) and chymotrypsinogen A (pI 9.2), which are detectable at 0.2 ng and 0.5 ng, respectively
• Complete kit—contains all reagents necessary for staining and destaining before in-gel proteolysis and peptide recovery for analysis by mass spectrometry

Silver staining methods generally use either glutaraldehyde or formaldehyde, which cause some covalent crosslinking of protein to each other and the gel matrix. To the extent that this crosslinking occurs, extraction or elution of protein from the gel will be inhibited. Pierce Silver Stain uses formaldehyde in the stain and developer working solutions. However, the procedure accompanying the kit for mass spectrometry is optimized to maximize polypeptide recovery without greatly sacrificing sensitivity.