Thanks for your comments,


I agree more details on our biopolymer matrix & instrumentation are useful
to specify my question.


The matrix we are studying is lung sputum from cystic fibrosis patients
which mainly consist of water & electrolytes (physiological conditions, pH
around 7) and the following compounds:

        Anionic DNA,
        Glycoproteins (also bearing anionic chrages due to the sulphated
suchars and           and sialic acid residues)
        Glycolipids (lipids bound on the glycoproteins) and phospholipids
(like         phosphatidylcholine)


These are not really located in separated compartiments (as might exist
inside cells.) However, we expect that they are not homogeneously
distributed in the sputum. They might be present as "clumps" of DNA,
glycoproteins, ... heterogeneously distributed in the sputum.


My aim is to stain specifically those compounds: DNA in one experiment, the
glycoproteins in another experiment, and so on.

The presence of many anionic species (DNA, glycoproteins, sometimes also
alginates from the glycocalix of bacteria in the sputum) might prevent to
specifically stain the compounds. I wonder which stains are the most
suitable to do so?

The instrument we will use is the BIO-Rad MRC1024 (UV + visible laser
light).


Thanks for your help,

Stefaan de smedt, UNIV Gent





At 17:00 24/07/97 -0400, you wrote:
>Sounds like a universal biological system.  Are you speaking of some sort
>of extracellular matrix?  Do you expect to see staining of each individual
>component separately from the others?  If these are just floating around
>and not located in different spatially separated "compartments", will you
>see anything at all even if you get them stained?  That aside, I'd
>recommend you get a copy of the Molecular Probes catalog because there are
>too many different possibilities without greater detail on your samples or
>on the instrument you which to use for visualization.  More details might
>bring better answers.
>Rob Palmer
>CEB/UT
>
>>Hello,
>>
>>we would like to stain a biopolymer matrix (neutral pH, physiological ionic
>>strength) which consist basically of:
>>
>>95% water
>>+ glycoproteins
>>+ DNA
>>+ proteins
>>+ lipid compounds
>>
>>I have no experience with staining and I would like to know if there are
>>highly specific stains in order to stain selectively the several compounds?
>>
>>Thanks for your help,
>>
>>stefaan De Smedt
>>Univ of Gent, Belgium
>
>