We understand that the
preparation of collagen I gel can be daunting to new users. Here are some
tips and tricks to help you get better in preparing collagen I gel.
1. Good pipetting skills and practices help minimize pipetting
errors and reduce the formation of bubbles. We recommend that users practice
the following steps:
a.
Immerse the
tip slightly into the solution while drawing the liquid in to minimize the
coating of liquid on the outside of the tip.
b.
Account for
the temperature difference between the liquid and tip. Dispense the first drawn
volume back into the original tube, and then start pipetting. By doing this,
the inside of the tip is pre-wetted; this helps to account for any volume taken
up by pre-wetting, increasing pipetting accuracy of viscous solutions.
c.
Dispense
liquid against the sidewall of the tube.
2. Make sure 10X PBS with phenol red is not frozen as its
color changes when it is about to freeze.
3. Do not lift the tip off the collagen solution while
mixing to reduce bubble formation.
4. Do not lift the microcentrifuge
tube up from ice while mixing to prevent any unwanted polymerization of
collagen gel.
Do you have your own tips and
tricks for preparing collagen I gel? Share them with the user community!
-Sei Hien-
Applications Development Scientist
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