Gold Enhancement with GoldEnhance™

Gold Enhancement for EM, LM and Blots

Gold is the new silver! Silver enhancement has long been used by microscopists to better visualize gold labeling, especially when using small gold particles. With GoldEnhance™, gold ions are specifically deposited around the gold nanoparticle, growing it in size, and offering several advantages over silver.

For TEM, the 1.4 nm Nanogold® can be enlarged to 3-20 nm for clear visiblility, even at low magnifications. Using an initial small gold immunoprobe allows better penetration into tissues (up to 40 microns!) and better labeling of antigens. Then gold enhancement makes everything clearly visible.

The development time can be extended to deposit more gold and make the signal visible by bright field (or reflection) light microscopy. With a little more development time, the signal can be seen by the naked eye, and can be used with dot blots or Westerns.

GoldEnhance™ EM Plus GoldEnhance™ EM GoldEnhance™ LM GoldEnhance™ Blots Comparison with enzymatic detection Product Instructions and Protocols References: Papers published using GoldEnhance™ Technical Help MSDS

Use to Enhance: Gold Reagents 1.4 nm Nanogold® 0.8 nm Undecagold Nanogold® Conjugates with Antibody/Fab'/Streptavidin FluoroNanogold™ Gold Nanomaterials Ni-NTA-Nanogold®

Why GOLD?

Advantages over silver: May safely be used before osmium tetroxide staining (silver is dissolved by the oxidizing agent O4; gold is stable) Lower backgrounds than silver in many cases; autonucleation minimal even after 1-2 hours For SEM, gold gives a much better backscatter signal than silver Compatible with physiological buffers (silver precipitates with chloride ion, as in PBS buffer; gold does not) Reaction is less pH senstitive than silver, and GoldEnhance™ is near neutral for best structural preservation of biological samples (many silver enhancers have a pH of 3-4) Excellent shelf life Low viscosity for easy and accurate mixing of components

Our customers report superb results in their labs, with real improvement over silver enhancement for light microscopy, electron microscopy and blots.

GoldEnhance™ EM Plus - Improved formula

Deposit metallic gold to enlarge ultrasmall gold nanoparticles for EM - Use it with Nanogold®!

• Slow enhancement for an easy control of particle size
• Great for SEM: Gold gives a much better backscatter signal than silver
• Low background - No autonucleation for 40 minutes
• Neutral pH for best ultrastructural preservation
• Permanent staining: does not fade
• Resistant to osmium tetroxide etching: may safely be used before osmium tetroxide staining with no need for gold toning or other protective treatments. Gold is stable in the oxidizing agent OsO₄; silver would dissolve.
• Compatible with physiological buffers and other halide solutions --these would precipitate silver.
• Can be used for specimens on metal surfaces (e.g. cell culture substrates)
• Low viscosity
• Light insensitive
• Mix-and-use
• Our new favorite for EM!

Protocol: Pre-embedding Nanogold® labeling
with enhancement by GoldEnhance™ EM Plus

Instructions and technical information
  Instructions (PDF)
  Material Safety Data Sheet (PDF)

GoldEnhance™ EM (original)

Our original gold enhancer for EM.

• High density of enlarged particles for clear imaging.
• Resistant to osmium tetroxide etching: may safely be used before osmium tetroxide staining with no need for gold toning or other protective treatments (silver is dissolved by the oxidizing agent OsO₄; gold is stable).
• for SEM, gold gives a much better backscatter signal than silver.

Instructions and technical information
  Instructions (PDF)
  Material Safety Data Sheet (PDF)

GoldEnhance™ LM

Formulated for robust and clear development for light microscopy.

• Autonucleation is minimal even after 1-2 hours - more convenient for multiple samples, or if sample access is restricted (e.g. automated processing).
• Much faster than chemiluminescence.
• Observe with brightfield optics - simpler and less expensive than fluorescence.
• Permanent staining: does not fade.

Instructions and technical information
  Instructions (PDF)
  Material Safety Data Sheet (PDF)

GoldEnhance™ Blots

Specially formulated for protein blots. Each kit will stain 12 (7 x 8.4 cm) Westerns.

• Fast development.  Observe 10 pg antigen within 10 minutes.
• Higher sensitivity than silver.  Able to detect 5 pg in immuno-dot blots.
• Generates a dark purple, permanent stain. No fading!
• No precipitation with physiological buffers or halides.
• Consistent, reproducible results.

Instructions and technical information
  Instructions (PDF)
  Material Safety Data Sheet (PDF)

Price List: Gold Enhancers Custom conjugation is also available, of Nanogold®, FluoroNanogold, undecagold or colloidal gold to primary antibodies, peptides, small molecules, or other molecules. #2114-8ML GoldEnhance™ EM Plus New, improved gold developer for EM. Comes In four solutions, to be mixed just before use. 8 mL total, enough for 200 grids (40 microliters/grid). Enhancer (A)/Moderator (B)/ Initiator (C)/Buffer (D): 2 mL of each (8 mL total) $162 Qty: Code (Optional) #2113-8ML GoldEnhance™ EM (GEEM) Our original gold developer for EM. Comes In four solutions, to be mixed just before use. 8 mL total, enough for 200 grids (40 microliters/grid). Enhancer (A)/Moderator (B)/ Initiator (C)/Buffer (D): 2 mL of each (8 mL total) $144 Qty: Code (Optional) #2112-28ML GoldEnhance™ LM (GELM) Gold developer formulated for use with light microscopy samples. Comes in four solutions, to be mixed just before use. 28 mL total, enough for 280 slides (100 microliters/slide). Enhancer (A)/Moderator (B)/ Initiator (C)/Buffer (D): 7 mL of each (28 mL total) $132 Qty: Code (Optional) #2115-48ML GoldEnhance™ Blots Gold developer specially formulated for use with protein blots. Comes in four solutions, to be mixed just before use. 48 mL total, enough for 6 (7 x 8.4 cm) Westerns. Initiator/Moderator/ Activator/Buffer: 12 mL of each (48 mL total) $163 Qty: Code (Optional) International orders: Our regional distributors can provide expedited customs processing and delivery.