Application of Silver Staining for Proteins in Rapid Staining of Undecalcified Tooth Sections

Abstract

A convenient silver staining method generally used in marking proteins in polyacrylamide gel was applied to stain undecalcified tooth sections for clear observation of fine structures in tooth tissues. Ground sections of teeth were directly soaked and stained with a solution prepared according to the staining protocol. Although modification of the staining procedure might be necessary to establish favorable staining condition in tooth sections, observation of fine structures in tooth sections became easy with the staining technique.

Observation of Carious Lesions on Undecalcified Tooth Sections with Silver Staining Method for Protein Gel Electrophoresis

“…As compared with other dental tissue, enamel showed a weak stain immediately after the silver staining (Fig. 3B,E), which was similar with our previous report 11) . However, discoloration on enamel, in particular on carious lesions around, was occurred with time and/or by UV irradiation (Fig.…”

“…Silver Stain II Kit Wako (Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd., Osaka, Japan), which includes silver nitrate, was used to stain the tooth sections according to the manufacturer's protocol or using modified protocol: omission of first staining step with 50% methanol and 10% acetic acid described in Kuwada et al 11) . The staining procedure was performed at 25 ºC.…”

“…In previous work 11) , we noticed that the silver stained tooth sections including enamel are discolored with time. Of particular interest is that the discoloration pattern shows the zonal staining pattern and seems to be corresponding to carious lesions in enamel.…”

“…Because of its sensitivity, silver staining has gained wide popularity in protein gel electrophoresis, and a number of staining protocols have been described [7][8][9][10] . Previously, we attempted to stain undecalcified tooth sections with commercially available sliver staining kit for the protein gel electrophoresis 11) . The study indicated that the convenient staining method with silver nitrate is useful in increasing the contrast of fine structures in cementum and dentin without decalcification, although enamel is stained little soon after the staining.…”