How long should I run the Novex Tricine Gels (e.g. Cat. No. EC6675BOX) and how do I recognize the running front?
You should run the gel until the phenol red tracking dye from the Novex Tricine SDS Sample Buffer (Cat. No. LC1676) reaches the bottom of the gel. Phenol red serves as an indicator of the running front as it is a very small molecule that migrates with the ion front in Tricine gels. The Coomassie from the sample buffer runs a little slower and can be 1-2 cm behind the phenol red.
Can urea be used with the Tricine gel system to achieve denatured results?
Adding urea to the sample and running buffers, in conjunction with SDS, may provide improved solubilization of the sample if denaturation by SDS does not prove to be sufficient. This must be tested empirically for the protein of interest.