Urea

Thermo Scientific Pierce Urea is ≥99% pure, crystalline urea, a protein denaturant with low UV absorptivity. In addition to increasing solubility of hydrophobic molecules, urea is a general protein denaturant, unfolding proteins and altering their three-dimensional structures.

Features of Thermo Scientific Pierce Urea:

• Any concentration up to 8M urea can be quickly and easily prepared.
• Free from UV absorbing materials
• Free from heavy metal contaminants
• Free from degradation products such as ammonia

Applications:
• Solubilizing proteins from inclusion bodies
• Increasing solubility of hydrophobic peptides and proteins
• Denaturing proteins

Chaotropes, substances that disrupt the structure of water interactions, help to solubilize hydrophobic proteins and peptides for a variety of biological purposes. For example, hydrophobic peptides and proteins may be dissolved in coupling buffer containing either 8 molar guanidine·HCl or 4 molar urea prior to immobilization on AminoLink Plus Support to create an affinity column. However, because the degradation products of guanidine and urea include ammonia, which contains a primary amine that will compete for reaction to the support, urea and guanidine solutions must be prepared with high quality reagents immediately before use.
Consequently, some proteins will be irreversibly altered upon interaction with urea solutions and may lose their binding function. Before any large-scale use of urea, it is best to test a small sample and determine whether the denaturing effects will adversely affect the intended use of the protein.