Western blot analysis.

Electrophoresis and the following western blot analysis are indispensable to investigate biochemical changes in cells and tissues exposed to nanoparticles or nanomaterials. Proteins should be extracted from the cells and tissues using a proper method, especially when phosphorylated proteins are to be detected. It is important to select a good blocking agent and an appropriate pair of primary and peroxidase-tagged secondary antibodies to obtain good results in western blot analysis. One thing that may be specific to nanomaterials, and that you should keep in mind, is that some proteins may be adsorbed on the surface of particulate nanomaterials. In this chapter the whole process of western blot analysis, from sample preparation to quantitative measurement of target proteins, is described.