# Patent

## Title
Hydrophilic, high protein binding, low fluorescence, western blotting membrane

## Abstract

Hydrophilic membrane particularly suited for blotting applications, preferably Western blotting. A pre-wet hydrophobic membrane substrate, preferably made of PVDF, is contacted with a monomer solution and subjected to a UV-initiated free radical polymerization step to render the substrate permanently hydrophilic. The resulting membrane exhibits low background fluorescence, high protein binding, excellent retention of protein sample spot morphology, and extended dynamic range (high signal-to-noise ratio, enhanced sample detectability). The membrane demonstrates comparable or higher performance in Western blotting applications than conventional nitrocellulose Western blotting membranes, particularly for protein detection at low sample concentrations, and is directly water-wettable, eliminating the need for an alcohol pre-wet step prior to use.

## Background
This application is a continuation of Ser. No. 12/462,635 filed Aug. 6, 2009, which claims priority of Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/189,302 filed Aug. 18, 2008, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference.


BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
“Blotting” or “electro-blotting” refers to the process used to transfer biological samples from a gel to a membrane under the influence of an electric field. The process requires a membrane that can immobilize biomolecular samples for subsequent detection. This places specific requirements on the membranes related to surface area, porosity, and protein binding capacity.
Western blotting is one modification of this technique that involves the immobilization of proteins on membranes before detection using monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies. Prior to protein immobilization on the membrane, sample proteins are separated using SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) to separate native or denatured proteins. The proteins are then transferred or electro-blotted onto a membrane, where they are probed and ultimately detected using antibodies specific to a target protein. Western blotting membranes are typically made of nitrocellulose (NC) or polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF). The specificity of the antibody-antigen interaction can enable a single protein to be identified among a complex protein mixture.
To summarize, Western blotting involves application of a protein sample (lysate) onto a polyacrylamide gel, subsequent separation of said complex mixture by electrophoresis, and transferal or “electro-blotting” of separated proteins onto a second matrix, generally a nitrocellulose or polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane. Following the transfer, the membrane is “blocked” to prevent nonspecific binding of antibodies to the membrane surface. Many antibody labeling or tagging strategies are known to those skilled in the art. In the simplest protocols, the transferred proteins are incubated or complexed with a primary enzyme-labeled antibody that serves as a probe. After blocking non-specific binding sites a suitable substrate is added to complex with the enzyme, and together they react to form chromogenic, chemiluminescent, or fluorogenic detectable products that allow for visual, chemiluminescence, or fluorescence detection, respectively. The most sensitive detection schemes make use of chemiluminescent or fluorescent phenomena. In chemiluminescent detection, an enzyme-substrate complex produces detectable optical emissions (chemiluminescence). These emissions are recorded and measured using suitable detectors such as film or photonic devices. Absence or presence of signal indicates whether a specific protein is present in the lysate, and signal intensity is related to the level of the protein of interest, which in some cases may be quantifiable.
The use of nitrocellulose membranes is ubiquitous in immunodetection assay work, particularly in Western blotting. This is partially due to historical considerations, and partially due to ease of use. Nitrocellulose blotting membranes do not require an organic liquid pre-wet step, a requirement for working with hydrophobic membranes. Hydrophobic membranes require an alcohol pre-wet step followed by a water exchange step (for alcohol removal), before assembly within the blot-transfer assembly. Intrinsically hydrophobic membranes afford a limited time-frame for this assembly; the potential for the membrane to dry out is significant. Once dry, the membrane cannot be re-wet unless the pre-wet sequence is repeated. Once the membrane is contacted to the gel, removal prior to transfer can effectively ruin the gel and the separated protein samples contained. The pre-wet step is time consuming and can considerably impede workflow. A hydrophilic membrane will remain wet for a longer time interval, and can be re-wet with water if it does dry out before assembly.
Nitrocellulose blotting membranes are water wet-able and show satisfactory performance for most blotting applications. But nitrocellulose is not as mechanically or chemically stable as PVDF. PVDF will maintain its mechanical integrity over a long timeframe, whereas NC will become brittle and discolored. PVDF membrane blots can be stripped of antibodies and be re-probed. NC blots cannot. NC is prone to air oxidation, wherein it can become hazardous. It requires a separate waste stream, and when disposed of must be damped with a wetting agent, usually water.
Hydrophobic PVDF blotting membranes possess equivalent protein binding ability to NC blotting membranes, but exhibit superior blotting performance. Much lower sample concentrations can be detected under the same conditions on these PVDF membranes compared to NC. Low-background fluorescence hydrophobic PVDF blotting membranes exhibit the same enhanced sample detection while enabling the use of fluorescent detection schemes.
It therefore would be desirable to provide a hydrophilic PVDF membrane for immunodetection assays such as Western blotting, with performance characteristics that approach the lower sample detection limits and low background fluorescence that are characteristic of hydrophobic PVDF membranes. This invention addresses these requirements.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Those skilled in the art of surface modification for the purpose of altering substrate surface energies, and in particular with regard to surfaces intended for contact with biological systems, will concur that hydrophilic surface modifications traditionally exhibit low protein binding behavior. The embodiments disclosed herein build on the serendipitous and unexpected discovery that space polymers derived from certain monomeric acrylamide mixtures, and formed using free-radical polymerization reactions, can give rise to surface modifications that are not only hydrophilic, but also demonstrate a high level of protein binding.
Much of the prior art describes the use of hydroxyl containing monomers, usually carbonyl ester containing acrylate polymers, to produce membrane surface modifications having hydrophilic character and high resistance to protein binding. However, it is known that polymers from such monomers are not resistant to strong alkaline solutions. For example, a solution of 1.0 normal sodium hydroxide will hydrolyze the carbonyl containing acrylate polymers to acrylic acid containing polymers. Such acrylic acid containing polymers are ionically charged under certain pH conditions, and will attract and bind oppositely charged proteins or biomolecules, thus increasing sorption and membrane fouling. In addition, acrylic acid containing polymers swell in water to an extent that they constrict pore passages, thus reducing membrane permeability and productivity. Moreover, polymers from hydroxyl containing monomers, such as hydroxy acrylates, further react in strong alkaline solutions and degrade into soluble low molecular weight fragments, which dissolve away and expose the underlying substrate porous media or membrane.
Practitioners attempting to develop optimized membranes either for filtration or non-filtration applications in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries must overcome significant problems. Facing stringent cost, performance and safety requirements, a practitioner must use materials and develop manufacturing methods that produce membranes with not only optimized flow and retention characteristics, but be economical to produce, meet cleanliness criteria, be stable to the various chemical environments which are commonly encountered, and be very either very resistant to biomolecule adsorption, or very strongly adsorbing, depending upon the intended end-use. Thus, in this instance, it is very desirable to have a membrane modification that results in a hydrophilic, biomolecule adsorptive surface that is heat stable, which is resistant to degradation by any potential reagent solutions, and which has very low levels of material capable of being extracted there-from.
Protein binding results from early investigations into mixed-acrylamide polymeric surface modifications indicated that certain mixtures of hydrophilic bis-acrylamide crosslinking monomers and monofunctional neutral or charged acrylamides can, when copolymerized using UV-initiated or electron beam-initiated free-radical techniques, produce high protein-binding hydrophilic surface modifications. However, initial starting levels of each monomer had to be severely decreased before observing satisfactory dot blot morphology and blotting transfer performance.
The problems of the prior art have been overcome by the present embodiments, which provide a hydrophilic membrane particularly suited for blotting applications, preferably Western blotting. More specifically, a pre-wet hydrophobic membrane substrate, preferably made of PVDF, is contacted with a monomer solution and subjected to polymerizing conditions to render the substrate permanently hydrophilic.
The resulting membrane exhibits low background fluorescence, high protein binding, excellent retention of protein sample spot morphology, and extended dynamic range (high signal-to-noise ratio, enhanced sample detectability). Where chemiluminescence is used for detection, the level of background fluorescence inherent in the unmodified parent membrane is not as critical. The membrane demonstrates comparable or higher performance in Western blotting applications than conventional nitrocellulose blotting membranes, particularly for detection at low sample concentrations, and is directly water-wettable, eliminating the need for an alcohol pre-wet step prior to use. The membrane exhibits complete, instant, and uniform wetting upon contact with water, and exhibits delayed wetting when contacted with a saturated aqueous aluminum chloride solution. That is, when said membrane is placed on the surface of this saturated aqueous aluminum chloride solution, it wets through in a minimum time interval of not less than 1 second).



BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIGS. 1-3 are diagrams of Western blot results using treated membranes in accordance with certain embodiments.



DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The membranes hydrophilically modified in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure provide immunodetection assay platforms that are comparable to, or exhibit superior blotting performance to nitrocellulose membranes, particularly with respect to expansion of the low end of the dynamic range of sample detectability. For example, in FIG. 1, Western blotting results from a typical development run demonstrate the performance differences between the hydrophilic PVDF blotting membrane of this invention, and the controls (FL—hydrophobic PVDF membrane, and NC—Whatman/S&S BA-85 membrane). Each horizontal strip in the figure contains 5 separate Western transfer blots; three blots on hydrophilic PVDF development samples, and one blot on each of the control membranes. Each horizontal strip of 5 Western blots is the result from one electrophoresis and transfer experiment (5 gels followed by 5 blots were run in each experiment). By design, each experiment embodies identical conditions on each gel/blot with identical quantities of protein sample (applied in 4 lanes across each gel) before electrophoresis and transfer. The results shown are the recorded (chemiluminescent) transfer blots for the detection of 2 proteins (HSP70 and GAPDH) from a complex sample mixture (lysate), applied at decreasing sample concentrations, from left-to-right on each gel, and corresponding to: 5 ug, 2.5 ug, 1.25 ug, 0.67 ug.
Suitable porous membranes include those formed from aromatic sulfone polymers, polytetrafluoroethylene, perfluorinated thermoplastic polymers, polyolefin polymers, ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene, polyamides including Nylon 6 and Nylon 66, and polyvinylidene fluoride, with polyvinylidene fluoride being particularly preferred. Porous membranes include both microporous membranes and ultrafiltration membranes, and are preferably in the form of sheets. Generally the average pore sizes include those between 0.001 and 10 microns. Blotting membranes are nominally 0.45 um pore size materials. Preferred starting membranes have a porosity (void volume) range specification of 68-73%. Blotting membranes are traditionally symmetric. However, the coating could be applied to an asymmetric membrane.
The polymeric coating can be a copolymer or terpolymer formed from at least one polyfunctional monomer modified with at least one hydrophilic functional group, said hydrophilic polyfunctional monomer(s) selected from the group consisting of polyfunctional acrylamides, polyfunctional methacrylamides and diacroylpiperazines, and formed from at least one monofunctional monomer modified with at least one hydrophilic functional group, said hydrophilic monofunctional monomer(s) selected from the group consisting of monofunctional acrylamides, monofunctional methacrylamides, and acryloyl piperazines.
It was found that a porous hydrophobic membrane, preferably one made of polyvinylidene fluoride coated with a crosslinked acrylamide-ethylene-bis-acrylamide copolymer was rendered highly hydrophilic. Furthermore, at the copolymer level that was applied to the porous PVDF membrane samples in early iterations of this invention, IgG binding assays revealed protein binding levels to be in the neighborhood of 400 ug/cm2. This level is typical of the parent hydrophobic PVDF membrane and of conventional nitrocellulose membranes. The first surprising result was that membranes so prepared were both hydrophilic, and high protein-binding. However, the Western blotting performance of these initial samples (those that exhibited this high level of protein binding) was not satisfactory in terms of maintaining small sample blot size (blot morphology), and in terms of sample capture in blot transfers. By modifying the copolymer coating level, satisfactory blotting performance was realized. At these modified levels, protein binding levels were reduced to between 250 and 325(00) ug/cm2, but Western blotting performance rose to levels intermediate between nitrocellulose and the preferred parent hydrophobic PVDF membrane. Surprisingly, the present inventors found that the protein binding level is not the best or only predictor of Western blotting membrane performance. Sacrificing some protein binding ability by modifying the coating level on the substrate can result in improved blotting performance.
Thus, component levels and relative concentrations of the modifying formulation are critical to obtain acceptable immunodetection assay performance. A low overall solids concentration in a highly specific component ratio balances water-wetting performance against blotting performance. The very low background fluorescence level of the substrate membrane is preserved. If, however, the level of surface modification chemistry is too low, the result is a membrane that is not water-wettable to an acceptable extent. If the level of surface modification is too high the resulting membranes exhibit extremely high surface energies. As stated earlier, at higher levels of surface modifying chemistry, the measured protein binding capacity is roughly equivalent to nitrocellulose and hydrophobic PVDF membranes, but poor electro-blotting performance results.
In accordance with certain embodiments, the total solids level in the modifying/reactant solution is to be adjusted to between 0.90% and 1.10% by weight. A total solids concentration in this range with the specified component ratio results in optimal blotting performance. This formulation includes a UV-photoinitiator component.
Suitable amounts of the acrylamide monofunctional monomer and the bis-acrylamide crosslinking monomer in the reactant solution are to be between 0.20% and 2.00% by weight (each), preferably with amounts between 0.30% and 0.60% by weight (each), and most preferably between 0.40% and 0.50% by weight (inclusive, each). The preferred ratio of acrylamide to bis-acrylamide of the monomer reactant solution is about 1:1 (mass/mass). The preferred overall monomer concentration of acrylamide:methylene-bis-acrylamide monomer reactant solution is between 0.5% and 1.5% by mass. A suitable UV-photoinitiator component is present in 0.01% to 0.20% by weight preferably between 0.05 and 0.15% by weight, and most preferably between 0.09% and 0.11%, by weight. Suitable UV-photoinitiators include Irgacure 500, 754, 2959, and 819DW. Methods for preparation of the modified porous membrane substrate in accordance with certain embodiments include the steps of providing a porous membrane substrate, contacting the surface of the porous membrane substrate with a reactant solution comprising acrylamide and methylene-bis-acrylamide, and a suitable photoinitiator, removing the membrane from the solution, and polymerizing the coating in situ on the membrane substrate by exposing the same to radiation of a suitable wavelength and intensity for a suitable time interval. Preferably the porous membrane contacted with the reaction solution is irradiated with an ultraviolet light source. Filters may be used to reduce or eliminate undesirable wavelengths which may cause damage to the porous membrane. The amount of exposure time to the UV light and the intensity thereof should be familiar to those skilled in the art.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, a laboratory-scale preparation of the reactant monomer solution is made by dissolving 1.00 g acrylamide, [H2C═CH—C(O)—NH2] monofunctional monomer; 0.80 g methylene-bis-acrylamide, [H2C(—NH—C(O)CH═CH2)2] cross-linking monomer; and, 0.20 g Irgacure 2959 photo-initiator into 198.00 g of Milli-Q® water. An extended mixing interval of about 2 hours is required to fully dissolve the cross-linker and the photo-initiator.
More specifically, the porous hydrophobic starting membrane is pre-wet by immersion in an organic liquid or in an aqueous solution thereof that does not swell or dissolve the porous membrane, and which pre-wets the entire porous surface of the membrane.
The liquid may be a low molecular weight alcohol, or a mixture of water and a miscible organic liquid. Suitable liquids or compositions include methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, water mixtures thereof, acetone/water mixtures, and tetrahydrofuran/water mixtures of sufficiently low surface tension to affect wetting the entire membrane surface.
The purpose of this pre-wetting step is to assure that the entire membrane surface is rendered wettable by water, and subsequently by the aqueous reactant monomer solution. The pre-wetting step must be followed by a rigorous exchange step with water to eliminate the presence of the organic solvent. These pre-wetting solvents or water mixtures thereof can exert a negative influence upon the intended polymerization of the reactant monomers.
Subsequent immersion and gentle agitation of the water-wet porous membrane in the reactant solution allows the entire surface of the porous membrane to be wet with reactant solution. As long as excess water is removed from the membrane prior to immersion in the reactant solution, no significant dilution of the reactant solution will occur.
The sample is withdrawn after a short (two minute) time interval and excess reactant solution is removed from the membrane sample. The reactant solution-wetted membrane is anaerobically exposed to UV radiation to effect the polymerization directly onto the entire porous membrane surface. The resulting coated membrane exhibits: Immediate, complete, and thoroughly uniform wetting when contacted onto a water surface; A high level of Western blotting performance; A high level of protein binding (≧250 ug/cm2 IgG) by radio-labeled assay; and, Low background fluorescence (about 2000 rfu @485 nm/535 nm excitation/emission wavelengths using a TECAN GENios FL fluorescence reader with detector gain set at 86, and running Magellan 5.0 software package), which is about twice the background fluorescence of the untreated (unmodified parent hydrophobic) membrane under the same measurement conditions. When placed on the surface of a saturated aqueous aluminum chloride solution, the membrane will wet through in a minimum time interval of not less than 1 second, and in a maximum time interval that may exceed 60 seconds.
EXAMPLE 1
Commercially available hydrophobic PVDF membrane from Millipore Corporation (IPFL00000) was immersed in methyl alcohol. The membrane was withdrawn and immersed in water with agitation to extract methanol for 1 minute. The membrane was withdrawn and immersed in fresh water for an additional 2-minute interval and then placed in fresh water before immersion in reactant monomer solution. Excess water was drained from the membrane and the membrane was then immersed in monomer reactant solution with gentle agitation for 2 minutes. Membrane was then exposed to UV radiation from both sides in a UV curing process at a line speed of 15 to 25 fpm. Membrane was recovered and placed into a water bath to remove unreacted monomer and non-adhering oligomers and polymer. Samples were dried either in air at room temperature overnight, or in a static forced-air oven between 60° C. and 80° C. for 10 minutes, or on an impingement dryer at 90-110° C. at a line speed of 15 to 25 fpm. Average membrane extractables as determined by an in-house TOC (Total Organic Carbon) method were measured to be about 1.44 ug/cm2, as shown in Table 1.







TABLE 1





Total Organic Carbon (TOC)—Five (5) 47 mm disks.
















Requestor ID: MIL6UJP37
PVDF Hydrophillic IPFL Membrane Received


Requestor: Antoni Peters
For Blotting and Immuno Assays Applications



Ext. for TOC Analysis



Extraction By: A. Pervez



TOC By: M. Santos-Rosa & A. Pervez



Date: Oct. 16-19, 2006
















Ext.
Ext. Temp.
Ext. Time
Ext. Vol.
Ext. Area



Solvent
[° C.]
[Hours]
[g]
[cm2]






MilliQ Water
Ambient
24
40
86.75










Summary


Results













TOC Acid/Oxid
TOC
Corrected TOC
TOC
TOC


Sample ID
[μL/min]
[ppm C]
[ppm C]
[μg C]
[μg C/cm2]





Water Blank
0.20/0.20
0.0639





T102 072806 A:-MBAM/AC/I-2959
0.75/1.00
3.29
3.23
129
1.49


T102 072806 B:-MBAM/AC/I-2959
0.75/1.00
2.91
2.85
114
1.31


T102 072806 C:-MBAM/AC/I-2959
0.75/1.00
3.33
3.27
131
1.51









Average extractable residual monomer levels were determined by HPLC. Values determined from 3 samples are provided in Table 2.







TABLE 2







Extractable Monomer Levels by HPLC—Same samples


as shown in Table 1.













Acrylamide
MBAM
Irgacure 2959



Sample
(μg/cm2)
(μg/cm2)
(μg/cm2)






T102 072806A
0.002
0.105
N.D.



T102 072806B
0.005
0.091
N.D.



T102 072806C
0.011
0.094
N.D.









EXAMPLE 2
The procedure of Example 1 was used to treat PVDF membranes having the specifications, treatment conditions and reactant solutions shown in Tables 3A-D, 4A-D, and 5A-D.







TABLE 3A







MODIFICATION DATA for Hydrophilic PVDF Western Blotting Membrane














Membrane




Monomer
Starting
Casting
Starting Membrane Properties














Roll
Mix
Membrane
Dryer
Thick
Porosity
Bbl Pt
Flow Time


No.
Lot#
Lot Data
Temperature (F.)
(um)
(%)
(psi)
(seconds)










RUN R—No Mix Ajustment—Footage VS Monomer Mix Concentration














NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA


R01
R Mix 1
IPFL 071007 T214
300
112
72.8
9.4
56.0


R02
R Mix 1
IPFL 071007 T205
300
113
73.0
9.4
63.0


R03
R Mix 1
IPFL 071007 T205
300
113
73.0
9.4
63.0


R04
R Mix 1
IPFL 071007 T205
300
113
73.0
9.4
63.0


R05
R Mix 1
IPFL 071007 T205
300
113
73.0
9.4
63.0


R06
R Mix 1
IPFL 071007 T206
300
111
72.4
9.5
65.0


R07
R Mix 1
IPFL 071007 T206
300
111
72.4
9.5
65.0


R08
R Mix 1
IPFL 071007 T206
300
111
72.4
9.5
65.0


R09
R Mix 1
IPFL 071007 T206
300
111
72.4
9.5
65.0


R10
R Mix 1
IPFL 071007 T214
300
112
72.8
9.4
56.0


R11
R Mix 1
IPFL 071007 T214
300
112
72.8
9.4
56.0


R12
R Mix 1
IPFL 071007 T214
300
112
72.8
9.4
56.0


R12 End
NA
NA
300
NA
NA
NA
NA
















TABLE 3B







MODIFICATION DATA for Hydrophilic PVDF Western Blotting Membrane










Monomer Mix Component Concentrations
















Actual
Actual
Actual
Actual
Totalized


Roll
Monomer Mix
AC
MBAM
I-2959
Total Solids
Footage


No.
Sample ID
Wt % (HPLC)
Wt % (HPLC)
Wt % (HPLC)
Wt % (HPLC)
By Roll










RUN R—No Mix Ajustment—Footage VS Monomer Mix Concentration













NA
R Mix 1 DRUM
0.5156
0.4214
0.1130
1.0500
0


R01
MM1 Start
0.5091
0.4042
0.1102
1.0235
0


R02
MM2
0.5105
0.3957
0.1094
1.0156
500


R03
MM3
0.5038
0.3837
0.1055
0.9931
800


R04
MM4
0.4996
0.3773
0.1001
0.9771
1100


R05
MM5
0.4948
0.3708
0.0999
0.9655
1250


R06
MM6
0.4935
0.3685
0.1020
0.9640
1550


R07
MM7
0.4868
0.3618
0.0995
0.9481
1850


R08
MM8
0.4868
0.3605
0.0974
0.9448
2150


R09
MM9
0.4777
0.3553
0.0956
0.9286
2300


R10
MM10
0.4721
0.3528
0.0956
0.9204
2600


R11
MM11
0.4673
0.3521
0.0932
0.9125
2900


R12
MM12
0.4682
0.3561
0.0918
0.9161
3200


R12 End
MM13 End
0.4574
0.3546
0.0879
0.8999
3300
















TABLE 3C







MODIFICATION DATA for Hydrophilic PVDF Western Blotting Membrane













Nip
Nip

UV Chamber Conditions



















Aisle
Wall
Line


N2 Flow
UV P1
UV P3
UV P2
Starting


Roll
Press
Press
Speed
Lamps
Lamps
Top/Bottom
Inch
Inch
Inch
O2 Level


No.
psi
psi
ft/min
Type/No
Config
(SCFM)
HWC
HWC
HWC
(ppm)










RUN R—No Mix Ajustment—Footage VS Monomer Mix Concentration

















NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
1.0
1.6
1.0
90.0


R01
20
20
20
H/4
Staggered
10/9.5
1.1
1.7
1.1
70.0


R02
20
20
20
H/4
Staggered
10/9.5
1.1
1.7
1.1
56.7


R03
20
20
20
H/4
Staggered
10/9.5
1.1
1.7
1.1
39.3


R04
20
20
20
H/4
Staggered
10/9.5
1.1
1.7
1.1
33.0


R05
20
20
20
H/4
Staggered
10/9.5
1.1
1.7
1.1
28.8


R06
20
20
20
H/4
Staggered
10/9.5
1.1
1.7
1.1
27.8


R07
20
20
20
H/4
Staggered
10/9.5
1.1
1.7
1.1
26.9


R08
20
20
20
H/4
Staggered
10/9.5
1.1
1.7
1.1
26.4


R09
20
20
20
H/4
Staggered
10/9.5
1.1
1.7
1.1
27.4


R10
20
20
20
H/4
Staggered
10/9.5
1.1
1.7
1.1
25.2


R11
20
20
20
H/4
Staggered
10/9.5
1.1
1.7
1.1
27.1


R12
20
20
20
H/4
Staggered
10/9.5
1.1
1.7
1.1
27.8


R12 End
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
1.1
1.7
1.1
25.2
















TABLE 3D







MODIFICATION DATA for Hydrophilic PVDF Western Blotting Membrane


















Water Wet
Water Wet
Water Wet
Salt Wet
Salt Wet
Salt Wet
Salt Wet
Fluores
QC Blotting
Western


Roll
Speed
Uniform
Through
Time
Time
Time
Time
BKG
Pass/Fail
Blotting


No.
OK?
X-web?
OK?
Seconds
Seconds
Seconds
Seconds
RFU
Control
Live Lysate










RUN R—No Mix Ajustment—Footage VS Monomer Mix Concentration

















NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
≧NC


R01
Y
Y
Y
4.7
3.5
3.0
3.7
1750.57
Pass 9 Band
≧NC


R02
Y
Y
Y
1.4
2.4
2.4
2.1
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


R03
Y
Y
Y
1.4
2.4
2.4
2.1
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


R04
Y
Y
Y
2.1
2.2
2.5
2.3
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


R05
Y
Y
Y
2.9
3.1
2.9
3.0
2015.63
Pass 9 Band
≧NC


R06
Y
Y
Y
2.2
2.3
2.3
2.3
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


R07
Y
Y
Y
4.1
3.9
4.0
4.0
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


R08
Y
Y
Y
2.3
3.7
3.2
3.1
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


R09
Y
Y
Y
5.7
7.3
5.3
6.1
1927.95
Pass 9 Band
≧NC


R10
Y
Y
Y
5.4
7.1
5.4
6.0
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


R11
Y
Y
Y
6.3
7.5
5.6
6.5
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


R12
Y
Y
Y
8.5
7.8
7.6
8.0
1708.5 
Pass 9 Band
≧NC


R12 End
Y
Y
Y
16.7 
16.5 
16.3 
16.5 
NA
NA
≧NC
















TABLE 4A







MEMBRANE MODIFICATION DATA—Hydrophilic PVDF


Western Blotting Membrane
















Heat Treat 







Temperature
Membrane




Monomer
Starting
or Mod Line
Casting


Run

Mix
Membrane
Dryer
Dryer


Segment
Roll No.
Lot#
Lot Data
Temperature
Temperature










RUN S—POROSITY/THICKNESS, VMF4 DRYER TEMP, LINESPEED












NA
NA
NA
NA




Test
R01
S Mix 1
IPFL 071007 T203
205
300


S1
R02
S Mix 1
IPX 070907 R103
205
300


S1
R03
S Mix 1
IPX 091407 T103
205
310


S1
R04
S Mix 1
IPX 120307 T107
205
300


S1
R05
S Mix 1
IPX 091407 T102
205
310


S1
R06
S Mix 1
IPX 070907 R105
204
300


S2
R07
S Mix 1
IPX 120307 T107
200
300


S2
R08
S Mix 1
IPX 120307 T107
Transition
300


S2
R09
S Mix 1
IPX 120307 T107
205
300


S2
R10
S Mix 1
IPX 120307 T107
Transition
300


S2
R11
S Mix 1
IPX 120307 T107
210
300


S2
R12
S Mix 1
IPX 120307 T107
210
300


S2
R13
S Mix 1
IPX 120307 T107
210
300





Segment 1 Variation of starting membrane properties


Segment 2 Variation of line speed and dryer temperature













TABLE 4B







MEMBRANE MODIFICATION DATA—Hydrophilic PVDF Western Blotting Membrane











Starting Membrane Properties
Monomer Mix Samples and Mix Component Concentrations























Bbl
Flow
Monomer
Actual
Actual
Actual
Actual
Totalized


Run
Roll
Thick
Porosity
Pt
Time
Mix
AC
MBAM
I-2959
Total Solids
Footage


Segment
No.
(um)
(%)
(psi)
(seconds)
Sample ID
Wt % (HPLC)
Wt % (HPLC)
Wt % (HPLC)
Wt % (HPLC)
By Roll










RUN S—POROSITY/THICKNESS, VMAF4 DRYER TEMP, LINESPEED


















NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
MM1B
0.4979
0.3894
0.1005
0.9878
150


Test
R01
112
72.8
9.6
61.0
MM1C start
0.4926
0.3877
0.1005
0.9808
300


S1
R02
115
74.8
9.3
55.0
MM2B
0.4893
0.3849
0.0996
0.9738
450


S1
R03
115
66.4
9.6
59.0
MM3B
0.4812
0.3785
0.0971
0.9568
600


S1
R04
126
72.9
9.4
65.0
MM4B
0.4780
0.3760
0.0963
0.9503
750


S1
R05
122
66.2
11.1
78.3
MM5B
0.4761
0.3733
0.0954
0.9448
950


S1
R06
130
74.7
10.7
74.0
MM6B
0.4785
0.3757
0.0953
0.9495
1100


S2
R07
126
72.9
9.4
65.0
MM7B
0.4699
0.3678
0.0934
0.9311
1200


S2
R08
126
72.9
9.4
65.0
MM8B
0.4673
0.3656
0.0926
0.9255
1305


S2
R09
126
72.9
9.4
65.0
MM9B
0.4660
0.3644
0.0925
0.9229
1405


S2
R10
126
72.9
9.4
65.0
MM10B
0.4655
0.3637
0.0917
0.9209
1505


S2
R11
126
72.9
9.4
65.0
MM11B
0.4642
0.3619
0.0910
0.9171
1605


S2
R12
126
72.9
9.4
65.0
MM12B
0.4618
0.3598
0.0903
0.9119
1705


S2
R13
126
72.9
9.4
65.0
MM13B
Not Available
Not Available
Not Available
Not Available
1855





Segment 1 Variation of starting membrane properties


Segment 2 Vaiation of line speed and dryer temperature













TABLE 4C







MEMBRANE MODIFICATION DATA—Hydrophilic PVDF Western Blotting Membrane













Nip
Nip

UV Chamber Conditions



















Aisle
Wall
Line
N2 Flow
UV P1
UV P3
UV P2
Starting


Run
Roll
Press
Press
Speed
Top/Bottom
Inch
Inch
Inch
O2 Level


Segment
No.
psi
psi
ft/min
(SCFM)
HWC
HWC
HWC
(ppm)










RUN S—POROSITY/THICKNESS, VMF4 DRYER TEMP, LINESPEED
















NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA


Test
R01
20
20
20
10/9.5
1.0
1.5
1.1
15.0


S1
R02
20
20
20
10/9.5
1.0
1.5
1.1
42.0


S1
R03
20
20
20
10/9.5
1.0
1.5
1.1
40.0


S1
R04
20
20
20
10/9.5
1.0
1.5
1.1
40.0


S1
R05
20
20
20
10/9.5
1.0
1.5
1.1
40.0


S1
R06
20
20
20
10/9.5
1.0
1.5
1.1
40.0


S2
R07
20
20
22
10/9.5
1.0
1.4
1.1
53.7


S2
R08
20
20
20
10/9.5
1.0
1.4
1.1
39.1


S2
R09
20
20
20
10/9.5
1.0
1.4
1.1
37.6


S2
R10
20
20
18
10/9.5
1.0
1.4
1.1
33.0


S2
R11
20
20
18
10/9.5
1.0
1.4
1.1
30.5


S2
R12
20
20
20
10/9.5
1.0
1.4
1.1
24.9


S2
R13
20
20
25
10/9.5
1.0
1.4
1.1
25.2





Segment 1 Variation of starting membrane properties


Segment 2 Vaiation of line speed and dryer temperature













TABLE 4D







MEMBRANE MODIFICATION DATA—Hydrophilic PVDF Western Blotting Membrane




















Water Wet
Water Wet
Water Wet
Salt Wet
Salt Wet
Salt Wet
Salt Wet
Fluores
QC Blotting
Western


Run

Speed
Uniform
Through
Time
Time
Time
Time
BKG
Pass/Fail
Blotting


Segment
Roll No.
OK?
X-web?
OK?
Seconds
Seconds
Seconds
Seconds
RFU
Control
Live Lysate










RUN S—POROSITY/THICKNESS, VMF4 DRYER TEMP, LINESPEED


















NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA


Test
R01
Y
Y
Y
   8.2
8.8
4.9
7.3
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


S1
R02
Y
Y
Y
  26.2
15.2
5.3
15.6 
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


S1
R03
Y
Y
Y
   4.2
4.2
2.9
3.8
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


S1
R04
Y
Y
Y
   5.4
13.6
10.3
9.8
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


S1
R05
Y
N
N
   7.8
4.6
5.7
6.0
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


S1
R06
Y
Y
Y
  12.7
8.0
9.9
10.2 
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


S2
R07
Y
Y
Y
>120*
90.0
25.0
Meaningless
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


S2
R08
Y
Y
Y
>120*
>120
40.0
Meaningless
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


S2
R09
Y
Y
Y
>120*
>120
30.0
Meaningless
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


S2
R10
Y
Y
Y
>120*
>120
55.0
Meaningless
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


S2
R11
Y
Y
Y
>120*
>120
80.0
Meaningless
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


S2
R12
Y
Y
Y
>120*
>120
80.0
Meaningless
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


S2
R13
Y
Y
Y
>120 
>120
55.0
Meaningless
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC





Segment 1 Variation of starting membrane properties


Segment 2 Vaiation of line speed and dryer temperature













TABLE 5A







MODIFICATION DATA FOR Hydrophilic PVDF Western Blotting Membrane


















Heat Treat 








Temperature
Membrane




Monomer
Starting

or Mod Line
Casting


Run
Roll
Mix
Membrane
Good
Dryer
Dryer


Segment
No.
Lot#
Lot Data
Footage
Temperature
Temperature










RUN T—POROSITY/THICKNESS, VMF4 DRYER TEMP, LINESPEED












1
NA
010908M1DRUM
0
NA
NA


1
NA
010908M1-MM1 Tank
0
NA
NA


1
NA
010908M1-MM2 Tank Diluted
0
NA
NA













1
R01
010908M1
IPVH 050107 T101B
155
200



1
R02
010908M1
IPFL 071007 T203
90
200
300


2
R03
010908M1
IPX 120307 T109
90
200
300


2
R04
010908M1
IPX 120307 T109
90
200
300


2
R05
010908M1
IPX 120307 T109
90
Transition
300


2
R06
010908M1
IPX 120307 T109
90
220
300


2
R07
010908M1
IPX 120307 T109
90
215
300


2
R08
010908M1
IPX 120307 T109
90
215
300


2
R09
010908M1
IPX 120307 T109
90
Transition
300


2
R10
010908M1
IPX 120307 T109
90
220
300


3
R11
010908M1
IPX 091407 T101
10
205.4
300


3
R12
010908M1
IPX 071007 T213
90
205.5
300


3
R13
010908M1
IPX 120307 T104
90
205.8
300


3
R14
010908M1
IPX 070907 T105
90
206.1
300


3
R15
010908M1
IPX 070907 R102
90
205
300


3
R16
010908M1
IPX 070907 R106
90
205
300


3
R17
010908M1
IPX 120307 R110
90
205
300


3
NA
010908M1
NA
0
205





Segment 1 Diagnostic


Segment 2 Dryer Temperature & Linespeed Variation


Segment 3 Porosity and Thickness Variation—Starting Membrane













TABLE 5B







MODIFICATION DATA FOR Hydrophilic PVDF Western Blotting Membrane










Monomer Mix Samples and




Component Concentrations
















Starting Membrane Properties
Monomer
Actual
Actual
Actual
Actual























Bbl
Flow
Mix
AC
MBAM
I-2959
Total Solids
Totalized


Run
Roll
Thick
Porosity
Pt
Time
Sample
Wt %
Wt %
Wt %
Wt %
Footage


Segment
No.
(um)
(%)
(psi)
(seconds)
ID
(HPLC)
(HPLC)
(HPLC)
(HPLC)
By Roll










RUN T—POROSITY/THICKNESS, VMF4 DRYER TEMP, LINESPEED


















1
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
DRUM
0.76
0.60
0.15
1.51
0


1
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
MM1
0.75
0.58
0.15
1.48
0


1
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
MM2 Start
0.51
0.40
0.10
1.00
0


1
R01
109-125
Not
Not
Not
Not Taken
NA
NA
NA
NA
375





Available
Available
Available








1
R02
112
72.8
9.6
61.0
Not Taken
NA
NA
NA
NA
675


2
R03
120
71.0
9.5
63.0
MM3
0.50
0.39
0.10
0.99
775


2
R04
120
71.0
9.5
63.0
Not Taken
NA
NA
NA
NA
875


2
R05
120
71.0
9.5
63.0
Not Taken
NA
NA
NA
NA
975


2
R06
120
71.0
9.5
63.0
Not Taken
NA
NA
NA
NA
1075


2
R07
120
71.0
9.5
63.0
Not Taken
NA
NA
NA
NA
1175


2
R08
120
71.0
9.5
63.0
Not Taken
NA
NA
NA
NA
1275


2
R09
120
71.0
9.5
63.0
Not Taken
NA
NA
NA
NA
1375


2
R10
120
71.0
9.5
63.0
Not Taken
NA
NA
NA
NA
1675


3
R11
118
66.7
8.3
46.7
MM4
0.48
0.38
0.09
0.96
1775


3
R12
116
72.3
9.0
56.0
Not Taken
NA
NA
NA
NA
1875


3
R13
119
72.4
9.7
66.0
Not Taken
NA
NA
NA
NA
1975


3
R14
130
74.7
10.7 
74.0
Not Taken
NA
NA
NA
NA
2075


3
R15
134
73.4
9.9
65.0
Not Taken
NA
NA
NA
NA
2175


3
R16
114
72.4
9.7
67.0
Not Taken
NA
NA
NA
NA
2275


3
R17
113
70.2
9.4
61.0
Not Taken
NA
NA
NA
NA
2375


3
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
MM5
0.47
0.37
0.09
0.94
2675





Segment 1 Diagnostic


Segment 2 Dryer Temperature & Linespeed Variation


Segment 3 Porosity and Thickness Variation—Starting Membrane













TABLE 5C







MODIFICATION DATA FOR Hydrophilic PVDF Western Blotting Membrane













Nip
Nip

UV Chamber Conditions



















Aisle
Wall
Line
N2 Flow
UV P1
UV P3
UV P2
Starting


Run
Roll
Press
Press
Speed
Top/Bottom
Inch
Inch
Inch
O2 Level


Segment
No.
psi
psi
ft/min
(SCFM)
HWC
HWC
HWC
(ppm)










RUN T—POROSITY/THICKNESS, VMF4 DRYER TEMP, LINESPEED
















1
NA
20
20
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA


1
NA
20
20
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA


1
NA
20
20
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA


1
R01
20
20
18
10/9.5
0.9
1.4
1.0
52.0


1
R02
20
20
20
10/9.5
0.9
1.4
1.0
77.0


2
R03
20
20
22-20
10/9.5
0.9
1.4
1.0
78.0


2
R04
20
20
18
10/9.5
0.9
1.4
1.0
44.0


2
R05
20
20
18
10/9.5
0.9
1.4
1.0
32.0


2
R06
20
20
18
10/9.5
0.9
1.4
1.0
32.0


2
R07
20
20
22-20
10/9.5
0.9
1.4
1.0
30.0


2
R08
20
20
18
10/9.5
0.9
1.4
1.0
26.0


2
R09
20
20
18-20
10/9.5
0.9
1.4
1.0
20.0


2
R10
20
20
20
10/9.5
0.9
1.4
1.0
22.0


3
R11
20
20
20
10/9.5
0.9
1.4
1.0
38.0


3
R12
20
20
20
10/9.5
0.9
1.4
1.0
34.0


3
R13
20
20
20
10/9.5
0.9
1.4
1.0
41.0


3
R14
20
20
20
10/9.5
0.9
1.4
1.0
21.0


3
R15
20
20
20
10/9.5
0.9
1.4
1.0
21.0


3
R16
20
20
20
10/9.5
0.9
1.4
1.0
21.0


3
R17
20
20
20
10/9.5
0.9
1.4
1.0
21.0


3
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA





Segment 1 Diagnostic


Segment 2 Dryer Temperature & Linespeed Variation


Segment 3 Porosity and Thickness Variation—Starting Membrane













TABLE 5D







MODIFICATION DATA FOR Hydrophilic PVDF Western Blotting Membrane






















Water
Water
Water


Salt
Salt
Salt
Salt

QC
Western




Wet
Wet
Wet
Speckle
Opacity/
Wet
Wet
Wet
Wet
Fluores
Blotting
Blotting


Run
Roll
Speed
Uniform
Through
Level
Translucence
Time
Time
Time
Time
BKG
Pass/Fail
Live


Segment
No.
OK?
X-web?
OK?
OK?
OK?
Seconds
Seconds
Seconds
Seconds
RFU
Control
Lysate










RUN T—POROSITY/THICKNESS, VMF4 DRYER TEMP, LINESPEED




















1
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA


1
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA


1
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA


1
R01
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
2.4/5.6 
3.4/6.2 
3.1/6.2
3.0/6.0 
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


1
R02
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
2.9/12.6
3.2/11.4
2.9/2.9
3.0/9.0 
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


2
R03
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
1.1/24.1
1.4/10.8
1.1/4.1
1.2/13.0
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


2
R04
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
1.2/14.5
1.5/19.9
1.3/5.6
1.3/13.3
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


2
R05
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
1.3/10.5
1.5/15.4
1.3/4.2
1.4/10.0
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


2
R06
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
1.3/24.7
1.4/9.5 
1.3/4.0
1.3/12.7
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


2
R07
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
2.5/60.0
2.3/25.4
2.5/5.4
2.4/30.0
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


2
R08
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
2.1/9.7 
2.6/14.0
2.6/5.5
2.8/9.7 
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


2
R09
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
2.8/13.1
3.5/22.6
2.5/5.9
2.9/13.9
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


2
R10
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
3.1/28.7
3.5/15.7
2.5/7.1
3.0/17.2
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


3
R11
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
24.1
6.5
4.2
11.6
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


3
R12
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
47.1
35.7
8.6
30.5
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


3
R13
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
67.9
70.7
34.5
57.7
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


3
R14
Y
Y
Y
N (HIGH)
N (White)
>180
>180
>180
>180
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


3
R15
Y
Y
Y
N (HIGH)
N (White)
>180
>180
>180
>180
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


3
R16
Y
Y
Y
N (HIGH)
Y
>180
57.3
16.4
>180
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


3
R17
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
19.3
40.8
5.1
21.7
N/Avail.
N/Avail.
≧NC


3
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA





Segment 1 Diagnostic


Segment 2 Dryer Temperature & Linespeed Variation


Segment 3 Porosity and Thickness Variation—Starting Membrane






EXAMPLE 3
The protocol used for Western blotting and chemiluminescent detection is as follows:

    
    
        Protein samples are electrophoretically separated using Bis:Tris (4 ̃12%) midi gradient gel (Invitrogen, WG1402BOX).
        Samples are electro-blotted at 45V for 1 hr 15 min using BioRad tank transfer apparatus (Criterion Blotter #165-6024) onto a hydrophilic membrane prepared as in Example 1.
        Blots are washed 2× (3 min each) in TBS-T (0.1% Tween)
        Blots are blocked for 1 hr at RT in TBS-T with 3% NFM (non-fat milk, Carnation).
        Blots are washed 2× (3 min each) in TBS-T (0.1% Tween)
        Blots are incubated with primary antibody in TBS-T for 1 hr.
        Blots are washed 3× (5 min each) in TBS-T (0.1% Tween)
        Blots are incubated with secondary antibody in TBS-T for 1 hr
        Blots are washed 4× (5 min each) in TBS-T (0.1% Tween)
        Protein bands are visualized using ECL (Millipore Immobilon-HRP) and x-ray film.
    
    


This protocol was used on the samples prepared in Example 2, and the blotting results are shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3.
Western blotting results from a typical development run demonstrate the performance differences between the hydrophilic PVDF blotting membrane of this invention, and the controls (FL—hydrophobic PVDF membrane, and NC—Whatman/S&S BA-85 membrane). Each horizontal strip in the figure contains 5 separate Western transfer blots; three blots on hydrophilic PVDF development samples, and one blot on each of the control membranes. Each strip of 5 Western blots is the result from one electrophoresis and transfer experiment (5 gels were run in each experiment). By design, each experiment embodies identical conditions with identical quantities of protein sample (applied in 4 lanes across each gel) before electrophoresis and transfer. The results shown are the transfer blots for the detection of 2 proteins (HSP70 and GAPDH) from a complex sample mixture (lysate), applied at decreasing sample solids (concentrations), from left-to-right and corresponding to: 5 ug, 2.5 ug, 1.25 ug, 0.67 ug.
Note that in each row (the result of a single electrophoresis and electro-blotting experiment, three hydrophilic blotting membranes of the invention are compared to two control blotting membranes. One control consists of nitrocellulose blotting membrane (NC) and the other control is a hydrophobic PVDF blotting membrane (FL). In the case of each single experiment, the FL membrane demonstrates the highest signal intensity for the 4 titers of analyte protein solution, and the NC membrane demonstrates the lowest signal intensity. It can be seen, when comparing the signal strengths between NC control blotting membranes and hydrophilic PVDF blotting membranes of the invention, that at the highest analyte sample titers (left hand side of each blot), that the NC and the hydrophilic PVDF membranes exhibit similar signal strengths. However, as one progresses to lower and lower analyte sample titers (progressing from left-to-right), the signal strength falls off more rapidly for the NC membrane. This demonstrates that the hydrophilic PVDF membrane allows sample detection at lower protein concentrations than NC membrane does.

## Claims

1. A Western blot immunodetection assay for detecting target proteins in a protein sample, comprising:
electrophoretically separating said target proteins from said protein sample;
transferring the separated target proteins onto a porous polymeric substrate having its surface modified with a crosslinked polymeric coating comprising acrylamide and methylene-bis-acrylamide, said coating rendering said surface hydrophilic;
blocking said substrate to prevent nonspecific binding of antibodies to said substrate surface;
incubating said substrate with a primary antibody capable of binding to said target proteins;
incubating said substrate with a labeled secondary antibody capable of complexing with an enzyme of said primary antibody to provide a measurable signal; and
detecting said signal.

2. The Western blot immunodetection assay of claim 1, wherein the measurable signal is detected by visual, chemiluminescent or fluorescent detection.

3. The Western blot immunodetection assay of claim 1, wherein said porous polymeric substrate having its surface modified has a protein binding capacity as measured by an IgG binding test of about 250-325 μg/cm2.

4. The Western blot immunodetection assay of claim 1, wherein the average total organic carbon level of said porous polymeric substrate is below 1.5 ug/cm2, and wherein extractable monomer levels, as determined by HPLC, are below 0.02 ug/cm2 for acrylamide, and below 0.15 ug/cm2 for methylene-bis-acrylamide.

5. The Western blot immunodetection assay of claim 1, wherein said porous polymeric substrate has a background fluorescence value, and wherein said substrate modified with said polymeric coating exhibits a background fluorescence of about twice that of said substrate background fluorescence value under identical measurement conditions.

6. The Western blot immunodetection assay of claim 1, wherein said substrate comprises polyvinylidene fluoride.

7. The Western blot immunodetection assay of claim 1, wherein the ratio of acrylamide to methylene-bis-acrylamide is about 1:1 (mass/mass).

8. The Western blot immunodetection assay of claim 1, wherein the overall monomer concentration of the acrylamide:methylene-bis-acrylamide monomer reactant solution used to coat said surface is between 0.5% and 1.5% by mass.