A color-code for glycosaminoglycans identification by means of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis stained with the cationic carbocyanine dye Stains-all.

Cationic dyes such as toluidin blue are commonly employed to visualize glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) on electrophoresis gels; however, the carbocyanine-based dye Stains-all have been increasingly used to stain the non-sulfated hyaluronic acid and other GAGs in submicrogram quantities. In this short communication, we demonstrate that Stains-all is able to stain the most common GAGs on polyacrylamide gels with distinct and contrasting colors in a reproducible manner. We also show that this staining method is useful to identify GAGs present both in mixtures and in submicrogram quantities.