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

Thin layer chromatography

Thin layer chromatography is a chromatography technique used to separate mixtures. Thin layer chromatography is performed on a sheet of glass, plastic, or aluminum foil, which is coated with a thin layer of adsorbent material, usually silica gel, aluminium oxide, or cellulose...

 (HPTLC

HPTLC

High performance thin layer chromatography is an enhanced form of thin layer chromatography . A number of enhancements can be made to the basic method of thin layer chromatography to automate the different steps, to increase the resolution achieved and to allow more accurate quantitative...

). 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

Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a complex isoprenoid. Specifically, it is a waxy steroid of fat that is produced in the liver or intestines. It is used to produce hormones and cell membranes and is transported in the blood plasma of all mammals. It is an essential structural component of mammalian cell membranes...

, glycerophospholipid

Glycerophospholipid

Glycerophospholipids or phosphoglycerides are glycerol-based phospholipids. They are the main component of biological membranes.-Structures:...

s and sphingolipid

Sphingolipid

Sphingolipids are a class of lipids containing a backbone of sphingoid bases, a set of aliphatic amino alcohols that includes sphingosine. They were discovered in brain extracts in the 1870s and were named for the mythological Sphinx because of their enigmatic nature. These compounds play...

s are major constituents of the cell membrane

Cell membrane

The cell membrane or plasma membrane is a biological membrane that separates the interior of all cells from the outside environment. The cell membrane is selectively permeable to ions and organic molecules and controls the movement of substances in and out of cells. It basically protects the cell...

 and in certain cases function as second messengers

Second messenger system

Second messengers are molecules that relay signals from receptors on the cell surface to target molecules inside the cell, in the cytoplasm or nucleus. They relay the signals of hormones like epinephrine , growth factors, and others, and cause some kind of change in the activity of the cell...

 in cell proliferation

Cell growth

The term cell growth is used in the contexts of cell development and cell division . When used in the context of cell division, it refers to growth of cell populations, where one cell grows and divides to produce two "daughter cells"...

, apoptosis

Apoptosis

Apoptosis is the process of programmed cell death that may occur in multicellular organisms. Biochemical events lead to characteristic cell changes and death. These changes include blebbing, cell shrinkage, nuclear fragmentation, chromatin condensation, and chromosomal DNA fragmentation...

 and cell adhesion

Cell adhesion

Cellular adhesion is the binding of a cell to a surface, extracellular matrix or another cell using cell adhesion molecules such as selectins, integrins, and cadherins. Correct cellular adhesion is essential in maintaining multicellular structure...

 in inflammation

Inflammation

Inflammation is part of the complex biological response of vascular tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants. Inflammation is a protective attempt by the organism to remove the injurious stimuli and to initiate the healing process...

 and tumor

Tumor

A tumor or tumour is commonly used as a synonym for a neoplasm that appears enlarged in size. Tumor is not synonymous with cancer...

 metastasis

Metastasis

Metastasis, or metastatic disease , is the spread of a disease from one organ or part to another non-adjacent organ or part. It was previously thought that only malignant tumor cells and infections have the capacity to metastasize; however, this is being reconsidered due to new research...

. 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:

• Purification of glycosphingolipids and phospholipids.
• Structural analysis of lipids in conjunction with direct mass spectrometry.
• Binding study using various ligands such as antibodies, lectins, bacterium, viruses, and toxins, and
• Enzyme reaction on membranes.

Not only analysis of lipids but also metabolites of drugs and natural compounds from plants, and environmental hormones are possible by this method.