An automated rotisserie system for processing Western blots.

An apparatus to automate completely the processing of Western blots is described. The prototype is based on a popular rotisserie system design. The incubation chamber consists of an inner cylinder that rotates inside an outer cylinder (incubation chamber). The blot is contained in the inner cylinder. Two magnets are mounted at one end of the inner cylinder, and rotation of the inner cylinder is effected by two magnets mounted on a motor drive outside the incubation chamber. Movement of chemicals into and out of the incubation chamber is driven pneumatically, and the entire process is controlled by a computer. Processing a blot for chemiluminescent detection takes 7 h to complete without human intervention. The quality of the resulting image is comparable to or better than a blot using manual processing. In addition, the prototype is capable of re-collecting all three antisera for future use.