Definition of Western blotting

Western blotting is a core technique in cell and molecular biology. Western blotting is used to detect the presence of a specific protein in a complex mixture extracted from either cells or tissue.

This technique has three stages; the separation of protein mixtures by size using gel electrophoresis; the efficient transfer of separated proteins to a solid support such as a nitrocellulose or PVDF membrane; and the specific detection of a target protein by appropriately matched antibodies. Once detected, the target protein will be visualized as a band on a blotting membrane on an imaging system.