Far-Eastern blotting is a technique developed in 1994 by Taki and colleagues at the Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan for the analysis of lipids separated by high-performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC). The lipids are transferred from the HPTLC plate to a PVDF membrane for further analysis, for example by enzymatic or ligand binding assays or mass spectrometry.
Cholesterol, glycerophospholipids and sphingolipids are major constituents of the cell membrane and in certain cases function as second messengers in cell proliferation, apoptosis and cell adhesion in inflammation and tumor metastasis. Far-eastern blotting was established as a method for transferring lipids from an HPTLC plate to a polyvinyledene difluoride (PVDF) membrane within a minute. Applications of this with other methods have been studied. Far-eastern blotting allows for the following techniques:
Not only analysis of lipids but also metabolites of drugs and natural compounds from plants, and environmental hormones are possible by this method.
Etymology
The name is a dual reference to Eastern blotting and the geographical concept of the "Far East" (which includes Japan).