When executing the technique, lipids are transferred from HPTLC plates to a PVDF membrane for further analysis, for example by enzymatic or ligand binding assays[1] and mass spectrometry.
Far-eastern blot was established as a method for transferring lipids from an HPTLC plate to a polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) membrane within a minute.
Far-eastern blotting allows for the purification of glycosphingolipids and phospholipids, structural analysis of lipids in conjunction with direct mass spectrometry, binding studies using various ligands such as antibodies, lectins, bacterium, viruses, and toxins, and enzyme reaction on membranes.
Far-eastern blot is adaptable to the analysis of lipids as well as metabolites of drugs and natural compounds from plants and environmental hormones.
[1] The name is a dual reference to eastern blot and the geographical concept of the Far East (which includes Japan).