InstantBlue^® is a ready to use Coomassie protein stain for polyacrylamide gels. Its unique mechanism of action stains proteins in 15 minutes, while leaving a clear background eliminating the need to fix, wash or destain. Formulated for safe use and easy disposal, it’s ready to use straight out of the bottle and comes in convenient premixed one liter bottles.

Why InstantBlue^® Protein Stain?

There is no need to wash, fix, microwave or destain gels when using InstantBlue™. Homemade stains and premade solutions require several or all of these extra steps. InstantBlue uses a simple one step protocol.

The unique patented mechanism for rapid Coomassie blue staining of protein gels begins in moments, and results are achieved within 15 minutes. Some premade and traditional homemade Coomassie R-250 protein stains can take three hours or more to fully stain gels, and then require destaining typically overnight.

Unparalleled sensitivity allows protein levels as low as 5ng per band to be detected (BSA) when staining overnight. This is thanks to InstantBlue’s protein specific staining, which gives a clear background, improving the signal / noise ratio of the stain. Despite the staining power, gels can be left in InstantBlue for weeks and still come out with a crystal clear background, all without the need for destaining or protein stain remover.

The nontoxic formula is sink disposable and thanks to its methanol free composition will not shrink gels. Other stains require solvent disposal procedures and can require microwaving, which produces dangerous fumes. The effective staining and safe composition of InstantBlue means that there’s no need for microwaving, solvent disposal, or fume hoods.

InstantBlue will stain at least 40 mini gels per bottle, boasting economical staining with only 25ml per mini gel. As a result, this allows you to use less protein staining solution when compared to 50–100ml of stain per gel for homemade solutions and some premixed solutions.

Fully compatible with mass spectrometry, gels can be destained using standard procedures. The protein staining solution’s acetic acid free formulation means it will not methylate or acetylate protein during the protein staining protocol.

Key Benefits

• Ultra fast staining – Results in 15 minutes or less
• One step procedure – No washing, fixing, microwaving or destaining
• High sensitivity – 5ng bands detectable
• Clear background – High signal / noise ratio
• Flexible – No overstaining
• Reliable – Stringent batch to batch consistency
• Efficient – Only 25ml per gel
• Safe composition – Nontoxic; no fume hood or solvent disposal required
• Methanol free – No gel shrinkage or protein methylation
• Acetic acid free – No protein acetylation
• Mass spectrometry compatible – Destainable. No residual methylation or acetylation

Note: This product is manufactured by Expedeon, an Abcam company, and was previously called InstantBlue Protein Stain (and also Optiblot Blue). ISB1L is the same as the 1000 ml size.

Manufactured under patent numbers : US 12/226,797 ; SG 201103010-3 ; SG 200807953-5 ; JP 2009-507182 ; IN 5722/CHENP/2008 ; GB 0608377.8 ; EP 10187154.9; EP 07733647.7 ; CN 200780021434.8 ; CA 2,649,835 ; AU 2007245443

INSTANTBLUE is a registered trademark of Abcam in the US and an unregistered trademark elsewhere