Western Blotting

Western blotting is a widely used analytic technique employed in molecular biology to detect unknown proteins using a hybridization-based methodology. The basic factors involved in Western blotting are separation of protein mixtures according to size using gel electrophoresis; effective transfer of separated proteins to a solid support; and detection of a target protein by appropriately matched antibodies. The basic steps involved in Western blotting are sample preparation, gel electrophoresis, blotting (or transfer), blocking, antibody probing, and detection.