title: Vitamin C-silver: an environmentally benign choice for DNA visualization on polyacrylamide gels.
abstract: A practical, sensitive and environment-benign protocol for the detection of DNA on polyacrylamide gels was described.  In this method, the most commonly used formaldehyde-based developer in DNA silver stain, which poses potential hazards to the health of operators, is firstly replaced by vitamin C (Vc) in sodium thiosulfate solution.  This allows user-friendly and efficient visualization of DNA that takes about 20 min to complete all the procedures, and provides comparable sensitivity (8 pg of single band) to the most sensitive formaldehyde-based silver staining method developed before.
authors.affiliation: Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Biopharmaceuticals, Wenzhou Medical College, Wenzhou, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Zhongxin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Weitao
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Cong
authors.forename: Hongzhang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Mao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Guoying
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Litai
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jin
mesh_terms: D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004587:Electrophoresis, Agar Gel / Q000379:methods; D005557:Formaldehyde / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D016272:Occupational Health; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry*; D016622:Silver Staining / Q000379:methods*; D013885:Thiosulfates / Q000737:chemistry; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D013885:Thiosulfates; D005557:Formaldehyde; D012834:Silver; D004247:DNA; C017717:sodium thiosulfate; D001205:Ascorbic Acid