MAXpack™ Immunostaining Media Kit
MAXblock™ Blocking Medium,MAXbind™ Staining Medium &MAXwash™ Washing Medium
Catalog Nos.: 15251 (MAXpack™ Immunostaining Media Kit)			
15252 (MAXblock™ Blocking Medium)			
15253 (MAXbind™ Staining Medium)			
15254 (MAXwash™ Washing Medium)
Format: The MAXpack™ Immunostaining Media Kit contains one each of Catalog Nos. 15252-15254.		
MAXblock contains 150 ml;		
MAXbind contains 250 ml;		
MAXwash contains 1000 ml
Applications: Immunofluorescence, Immunohistochemistry
Formulations: Please see the three attached Technical Data Sheets for MAXblock, MAXbind and MAXwash.
Storage: Store at 4°C. Guaranteed stable for 6 months when stored properly.
MAXblock, MAXbind & MAXwash are for in vitro research use only and are not intended for use in humans or animals.

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MAXblock™ Blocking Medium
Catalog No.: 15252
Format: 150 ml
Applications: Immunofluorescence, Immunohistochemistry
Formulation: Non-mammalian blocking agent in PBS, pH 7.4, containing 0.09% sodium azide
Storage: Store at 4°C. Guaranteed stable for 6 months when stored properly.
Concentration: MAXblock is to be used at the delivered concentration (1X).
Description: MAXblock is a protein-based, non-mammalian blocking agent for use in immunofluorescence and immunodetection assays.
Superior blocking is achieved utilizing a protein blend that demonstrates no cross-reactivity with secondary antibodies.
Quality Control: MAXblock has been tested for effectiveness in blocking non-specific binding of antibodies in immunofluorescence(see below) and immunohistochemistry.
Usage: For immunofluorescence, immunohistochemistry or immunocytochemistry, cells can either be grown directly on slides orcoverslips, or spun down onto slides or coverslips. Blocking times are the same no matter which substrate the cells are on (see below).
Temperature

Blocking Time

4°C

Overnight25°C

2 hours

37°C

1 hourCoverslips can be placed cells side up in the well (one coverslip per well) of a six-well tissue culture plate. Use 1 ml MAXblock perwell. Be sure to cover the plate to minimize evaporation.
Slides can be blocked cells side up in petri dishes or Coplin jars. (Glass jars are not recommended as protein adheres to glass). If Petridishes are used, use enough MAXblock to completely cover the surface of the slide, and cover the dish during blocking to minimize
evaporation. If blocking is performed at 25°C or 37°C, allow extra time to equilibrate the MAXblock to the proper temperature.
For antibody dilution and staining, it is strongly recommended that you use Active Motif’s MAXbind™ Staining Medium (Cat. No. 15253).
Do not use MAXblock for diluting antibodies or for staining.
MAXblock is for in vitro research use only and is not intended for use in humans or animals.
Figure 1: MAXblock Blocking Efficacy.
Methanol-fixed HeLa cells grown on a coverslip were blocked overnight in MAXblock (A),
5% non-fat dry milk (C), 5% BSA (D) or Thermo-Fisher Pierce Sea Block (E). Cells were thenincubated with a fluorescent anti-rabbit secondary antibody at a dilution of 1:250 (far above
the recommended dilution to demonstrate the effectiveness of MAXblock), washed with
MAXwash and mounted using MAXfluor™ DAPI (Cat. No. 15257). Any observed signal (pseudocolored red) is caused by non-specific binding of the secondary due to incomplete blocking.
Note that no staining is observed in panel A, demonstrating the effectiveness of MAXblock.
(Panel B is a 150% overexposure of the fluorescent channel of the MAXblock slide, whichshows cell position and demonstrates that antibody binding is barely detectable above
background.) Experiments with an anti-mouse secondary gave nearly identical results.

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MAXbind™ Staining Medium
Catalog No.: 15253
Format: 250 ml
Applications: Immunofluorescence, Immunohistochemistry, Western blotting & ELISAFormulation: Non-mammalian antibody binding agent in PBS, pH 7.4, containing 0.1% Triton X-100 and 0.09% sodium azide
Storage: Store at 4°C. Guaranteed stable for 6 months when stored properly.
Concentration: MAXbind is to be used at the delivered concentration (1X).
Description: MAXbind Staining Medium is a non-mammalian incubation agent that optimizes antibody staining in immunofluorescenceand immunostaining assays. Used in combination with MAXblock™ Blocking Medium (Cat. No. 15252), MAXbind promotes superiorantibody binding while helping to eliminate non-specific primary and secondary antibody binding.
Quality Control: MAXbind was tested for effectiveness in promoting antibody binding in immunofluorescence (below) as well as in IHC
Instructions: For immunofluorescence, immunohistochemistry or immunocytochemistry, cells can be grown either directly on slides orcoverslips, or spun down onto slides or coverslips. The volumes below assume cells grown on coverslips in the wells of a 6-well plate.
1.

2.
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7.

After blocking cells with MAXblock or similar for 1 hour in a humidified environment, e.g. an incubator or slide warmer, aspirate
the MAXblock and add 1 ml 1X MAXwash™ Washing Medium (Cat. No. 15254), or similar. Rock the plate for 10 minutes on a rotating
platform. During this wash step, dilute your primary antibody to an appropriate dilution in MAXbind. For a coverslip in the well of a
6-well plate, you will need to add 1 ml. To make a 1:500 dilution, dilute 2 µl primary antibody in 1 ml MAXbind per well.
Aspirate the MAXwash and add 1 ml of the diluted primary antibody to each well. Incubate for 1 hour at 37°C in a humid environment, e.g. an incubator or slide warmer.
Aspirate the diluted primary antibody from the cells, add 1 ml 1X MAXwash and rock the plate for 10 minutes on a rotating platform.
Aspirate the MAXwash and repeat 2 more times for a total of 3 washes. During the last wash, dilute your secondary antibody in
MAXbind to a dilution of 1:500 to 1:2000. You will need to add 1 ml of diluted secondary antibody per well.
Incubate the diluted secondary antibody for 1 hour at 37°C in a darkened, humid environment, e.g. an incubator or slide warmer.
From here forward, it is important to limit the amount of light exposure to the fluorescent dye on the secondary antibody.
Aspirate the diluted secondary antibody from the cells and add 1 ml 1X MAXwash. Rock the plate for 10 minutes on a rotating
platform. Aspirate the MAXwash and repeat 3 more times for a total of 4 washes.
After the last wash, carefully remove the coverslip from the well using flat-edged forceps. In some cases, the coverslip is slightly
stuck to the bottom of the well and may need to be dislodged using a beveled needle. Using the needle, carefully stand up thecoverslip in the well and grab it with forceps.
Dry the coverslip to remove excess MAXwash. Hold the corner of the coverslip to a Kimwipe to remove any excess MAXwash fromthe coverslip. Remember to limit light exposure. You are now ready for counterstaining and slide mounting.

MAXbind is for in vitro research use only and is not intended for use in humans or animals.
Immunofluorescence staining with MAXbind.
Bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cells were labeled for
mitochondria (red), F-actin (green) and DAPI (blue) using
MAX Stain™ immunofluorescence and immunostaining
products. In addition to MAXbind, MAXblock, MAXwash andMAXfluor™ DAPI were used in the creation of this image.

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MAXwash™ Washing Medium
Catalog No.: 15254
Format: 1000 ml
Applications: Immunofluorescence, Immunohistochemistry, Western blotting & ELISAFormulation: Proprietary washing buffer containing 0.001% sodium azide.
Storage: Store at 4°C. Guaranteed stable for 6 months when stored properly.
Concentration: MAXwash is to be used at the delivered concentration (1X).
Description: MAXwash is a proprietary formulation designed to eliminate non-specific primary and secondary antibody binding.
Quality Control: MAXwash was tested in immunofluorescence for effectiveness in eliminating off-target antibody binding.
Instructions: MAXwash is to be used at the concentration supplied for washing cells after fixation and blocking steps, as well as incubations with primary and secondary antibodies. The amount needed will depend upon the type of tissue culture plate you are using. If you
are using 6-well plates, 1 ml 1X MAXwash is used per well for each wash step.
Typically, one wash is performed after fixing cells with methanol and blocking with MAXblock™ Blocking Medium (Cat. No. 15252), orsimilar. Three washes are usually performed following incubation with primary antibody diluted in MAXbind™ Staining Medium (Cat. No.
15253), or similar. Four washes are usually performed following incubation with diluted secondary antibody.
Each wash step is generally performed for 10 minutes on a rocking platform. The optimal number and duration of wash steps may need
to be adjusted depending upon your cell line, primary and secondary antibodies.
MAXwash is for in vitro research use only and is not intended for use in humans or animals.

Immunofluorescence staining with MAX Stain™ reagents.
HeLa cells were stained using the MAX Stain line of products for immunofluorescence andimmunostaining. Green: alpha Tubulin Mouse mAb (Clone 5-B-1-2) (Cat. No. 39527).
Red: Histone H3 trimethyl Lys27 Rabbit pAb (Cat. No. 39155). Blue: DAPI.
In addition to MAXwash, MAXblock, MAXbind™ Staining Medium (Cat. No. 15253) andMAXfluor™ DAPI Mounting Medium (Cat. No. 15257) were used in the creation of this image.

North America 877 222 9543

Europe +32 (0)2 653 0001

Japan +81 (0)3 5225 3638

www.activemotif.com