Sometimes faster can be better: Microneedling IPG strips enables higher throughput for integrative top‐down proteomics

Passive rehydration of immobilized pH gradient (IPG) strips for two‐dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE) has, to our knowledge, never been quantitatively evaluated to determine an ideal rehydration time. Seeking to increase throughput without sacrificing analytical rigor, we report that a substantially shorter rehydration time is accomplished when surface area of IPG strips is increased via microneedling. Rehydration for 4 h, post microneedling, provides comparable results to overnight rehydration in final analyses by 2DE, while also shortening the overall protocol by 1 day.