TWEEN® 20 BioXtra (Sigma-Aldrich)

Description

CAS number: 9005-64-5
Suitability: Suitable for blocking, cell culture, hybridization, protein purification, transformation
Synonym: Polyethylene glycol sorbitan monolaurate, Polyoxyethylenesorbitan monolaurate

General description

Tween^®20 is a polyoxyethylene sorbitol ester that belongs to the polysorbate family. It is a nonionic detergent having a molecular weight of 1,225 daltons, assuming 20 ethylene oxide units, 1 sorbitol, and 1 lauric acid as the primary fatty acid. The ethylene oxide subunits are responsible for the hydrophilic nature of the surfactant, while the hydrocarbon chains provide the hydrophobic environment. Sorbitol forms the backbone ring to which the ethylene oxide polymers are attached.

Application

TWEEN 20 is a non-ionic detergent that has been used in a variety of applications, including:

• Post-hybridization wash buffer after in situ hybridization.
• Used along with PBS (phosphate-buffered saline) as the washing buffer for ELISA and immunostaining.
• Acted as an emulsifying agent for the preparation of stable oil-in-water emulsions
• Used in pre-extraction of membranes to remove peripheral proteins (used at 2% for extraction of membrane-bound proteins).
• Acted as a blocking agent for membrane-based immunoassays at a typical concentration of 0.05%.
• Used for lysing mammalian cells at a concentration of 0.005 to 0.5%.