Immunoblot analysis: a new method for fingerprinting hospital pathogens.

Immunoblotting has recently become popular as a way of fingerprinting those hospital pathogens where other more conventional typing systems are deficient. Extracts of microorganisms are prepared by chemical or enzymic means, run on a standard SDS-PAGE gel and transferred onto nitrocellulose membrane. They are then probed either by a hyperimmune antiserum raised in a rabbit or by serum from a patient who has been previously infected by the organism. The pattern of antigenic bands which stain forms the basis of the method. This article discusses the limitations of the system, makes recommendations for further systems and outlines a typical fingerprinting protocol.