The focus of this study is to implement free ImageJ software distributed by the National Institute of Health, along with standard and/or inexpensive equipment, in order to quantitatively analyze proteins separated by SDS-PAGE (sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis). Students generate a standard curve composed of serially diluted bovine serum albumin (BSA) and resolve the proteins by SDS-PAGE, along with a sample containing 0.25 �l of human serum. The polyacrylamide gel is either dried in cellophane and scanned using a standard flatbed scanner or photographed wet, followed by utilization of the ImageJ software to perform two types of analyses: (1) quantitative determination of the actual amount of each of these proteins by comparing to the standard curve, and (2) volume analysis to determine the percent volume of each of the five major serum proteins.

Quantitative application for SDS-PAGE in an undergraduate biochemistry lab

243rd National Meeting (2012)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.