Electrophoresis Buffers

Bicine is a buffering agent used in biochemistry and molecular biology that was selected and described by Good et al. It is a zwitterionic, bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amine buffer that is useful for a pH range of 7.6 – 9.0. It is commonly used in protein crystallization, in the study of enzymatic reactions, and for electrophoresis. It is used in thin layer ion exchange chromatography for protein resolution, as well as a multiphasic buffer system for SDS-PAGE of proteins. It is soluble in water at 0°C up to 1.1 M. Bicine forms a complex with most common metals so stability constants and concentrations should be taken into consideration when choosing this buffer.

Bis-Tris, also known as bis-Tris methane, is a zwitterionic buffering agent used in biochemistry and molecular biology. It is a bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amine and Tris family buffer that is useful for a pH range of 5.8 – 7.2. Bis Tris is a common component of many buffer systems for various types of electrophoresis. Bis-Tris may form a complex with some common metals, such as Cu(II) and Pb(II), and formation constants should be taken into account when using this buffer in a solution containing metal ions. Bis-Tris can be used as a substitute for the highly toxic buffer cacodylate.

CAPS is a zwitterionic buffering agent used in biochemistry and molecular biology. It is a cyclohexylamine buffer that is useful for a pH range of 9.7 – 11.1 and commonly used to study enzymatic processes above physiological pH. CAPS is an excellent buffer for the transfer of high molecular weight proteins to nitrocellulose membranes after SDS-PAGE. It is also used in protein sequencing. CAPS displays only weak or negligible complexation capabilities for some metals making it a suitable non-coordinating buffer for use in solutions containing metal ions. CAPS is suitable for use with the bicinchoninic acid (BCA) assay.

EDTA (Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) is a chelating agent, a general chemical and a sequestrant. In molecular biology applications, it is used to minimize metal ion contamination and prevent enzymatic activity.

EDTA disodium is routinely used in electrophoresis DNA and protein separation applications to chelate metal ions required for enzymatic activity that could potentially damage DNA and protein structure.

Ethyleneglycol bis(2-aminoethyl ether)-N,N,N',N' tetraacetic acid, (EGTA) is a calcium specific chelator. Because of its low affinity for Mg+, EGTA inhibits metalloproteases.

MOPS is a buffering agent used in biochemistry and molecular biology that was selected and described by Good et al. It is a zwitterionic, morpholinic buffer that is useful for a pH range of 6.5 – 7.9 and commonly used for cell culture media, as a running buffer in electrophoresis, and for protein purification in chromatography. MOPS lacks the ability to form a complex with most metal ions and is recommended for use as a non-coordinating buffer in solutions with metal ions.

MOPS sodium salt is a buffering agent used in biochemistry and molecular biology that was selected and described by Good et al. It is a zwitterionic, morpholinic buffer that is useful for a pH range of 6.5 – 7.9 and commonly used for cell culture media, as a running buffer in electrophoresis and for protein purification in chromatography. MOPS lacks the ability to form a complex with most metal ions and is recommended for use as a non-coordinating buffer in solutions with metal ions. MOPS is often used in buffered culture media for bacteria, yeast, and mammalian cells. MOPS is regarded as an excellent buffer for use in separating RNA in agarose gels. It is recommended to sterilize MOPS buffers by filtration rather than with autoclave due to the unknown identity of yellow degradation products that occur after sterilization of MOPS with autoclave. It is suitable for use in the bicinchoninic acid (BCA) assay.

MOPS sodium salt can be mixed with MOPS free acid to attain desired pH. Alternatively, MOPS free acid can be titrated with sodium hydroxide to attain desired pH.

PIPES is a buffering agent used in biochemistry and molecular biology that was selected and described by Good et al. It is a zwitterionic, piperazinic buffer that is useful for a pH range of 6.1 – 7.5. PIPES lacks the ability to form a significant complex with most metal ions and is recommended for use as a non-coordinating buffer in solutions with metal ions. PIPES has wide variety of applications and is commonly used in cell culture media, in protein crystallization, as a running buffer in gel electrophoresis, and as an eluent in isoelectric focusing and chromatography.

PIPES sesquisodium salt is a buffering agent used in biochemistry and molecular biology that was selected and described by Good et al. It is a zwitterionic, piperazinic buffer that is useful for a pH range of 6.1 – 7.5. PIPES lacks the ability to form a significant complex with most metal ions and is recommended for use as a non-coordinating buffer in solutions with metal ions. PIPES has wide variety of applications and is commonly used in cell culture media, in protein crystallization, as a running buffer in gel electrophoresis, and as an eluent in isoelectric focusing and chromatography. This buffer is capable of forming radicals and is therefore not suitable for redox reactions. It is suitable for use in the bicinchoninic acid (BCA) assay.

TAPS is a zwitterionic buffering agent used in biochemistry and molecular biology that was selected and described by Good et al. It is part of the Tris family of buffers and is useful for a pH range of 7.7 – 9.1. TAPS is commonly used in capillary electrophoresis to analyze DNA and in planar chromatography to separate dyes. It is the preferred culture media buffer used for dinoflagellate experiments, allowing for minimal pH change and maximal growth. TAPS may form a complex with some common metals so stability constants and concentrations should be taken into account when choosing this buffer. TAPS is capable of inhibiting connexin channels in animal cells.

Tricine is a zwitterionic buffering agent used in biochemistry and molecular biology that was selected and described by Good et al. It is part of the Tris family of buffers with a useful pH range of 7.4 – 8.8. Tricine is commonly used in SDS-PAGE to separate peptides that are in the molecular weight range of 1 to 100 kDa. It is also used in capillary zone electrophoresis, high performance liquid chromatography and ion exchange chromatography. Tricine was determined to be the best buffer tested for use in ATP assays involving firefly luciferase. Tricine can serve as scavenger of hydroxyl radicals; this should be taken into consideration if using tricine in the presence of an enzyme with oxidase activity. Tricine forms a complex with Cu(II). The addition of Cu2+ to a solution enables tricine to be used in the Lowry protein assay. Tricine can be used as a substitute for protocols that utilize the controlled substance barbital as a buffer.

GoldBio Tris has the highest purity available on the market. Short for Tris (hydroxymethyl) aminomethane (THAM), Tris is an organic compound often used in buffer solutions such as TAE or TBE for electrophoresis gels. Tris is highly soluble in water and is useful in the pH range 7.0-9.0 and is also used in the preparation of Laemmli buffer, one of the most common SDS-PAGE buffers. In addition, it can also be used for many custom running and loading buffers, most often with glycine and SDS.

Tris hydrochloride is a reagent that is used for the stabilization of buffer formulations and electrophoresis of biological molecules.