Methanol in transfer? - (Mar/08/2006 )

Hi,

Just curious, what function does methanol serve when transferring from a PAGE gel to a PVDF membrane?

methanol aids in the transfer of sds-coated proteins.

As good as I know methanol also allows hydrophobic PVDF to get wet by water-based buffer.

If I'm right,
SDS helps big molecules to transfer, but not to "stick" to the membrane.
methanol helps molecule to "stick" to the membrane.

i thought it was to remove the preversatives on the PVDF membrane???

Methanol 'wets' the hydrophobic PVDF membrane which is why you presoak it and have in the transfer buffer. High levels of SDS (>0.05%) inhibits protein binding to the PVDF.