How to Interpret the Results of Northern Blots
- 1). Transfer the mRNA strand from the gel to the membrane. Incubate the strand with a probe solution homologous to the mRNA you are using. The probe contains an indicator of your RNA of interest in order to visualize later. If the base pairs of the probe are complementary, the probe will attach to your mRNA.
- 2). Wash the mRNA strand with RNase free low and high stringency wash buffers to remove any non-bound probe.
- 3). Look for a band that forms. If a band forms, that indicates that the mRNA is homologous to the probe. If no band forms, that indicates that it is not homologous. These results will indicate in which type of cells or tissues your RNA of interest is the most abundant.
Source...