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Endotoxin Detection, Quantitation, and Removal
Endotoxins are heat-stable lipopolysaccharide (LPS) molecules associated with the outer membranes of certain gram negative bacteria. They are released into their surrounding environment when the bacteria cells undergo normal cell division or when they are damaged or undergo lysis. Endotoxins are frequent contaminants of protein solutions derived from bioproduction and are toxic to cells grown in tissue culture. Since endotoxins are pyrogenic (induce fever) in mammals, it is extremely important to identify, monitor and eliminate their presence in biological samples.
Choose the right endotoxin detection, quantitation, or removal product
NEW Pierce Rapid Gel Clot Endotoxin Assay Kit
The Pierce Rapid Gel Clot Assay is an endpoint endotoxin assay that provides rapid and easy-to-read qualitative results indicating the presence or absence of gram-negative bacterial endotoxin in a sample without the use of equipment or software.
 NEW Pierce Rapid Gel Clot Endotoxin Assay | ||||
| Sensitivity range (EU/mL) | 0.03 | 0.125 | 0.25 | 0.5 |
| Detection method | Visual | |||
| Assay time (min) | 15–25 depending on sensitivity of the selected kit | 15–25 depending on sensitivity of the selected kit | 15–25 depending on sensitivity of the selected kit | 15–25 depending on sensitivity of the selected kit |
| β-glucan interference | No | |||
| Pack sizes | 10 reactions | |||
| Order now | Order now | Order now | Order now | |
We offer multiple products that accurately detect the amount of endotoxin in a sample. These quantitation kits are ideal for processing multiple samples simultaneously.
Chromogenic Endotoxin Quantitation Kit
The Chromogenic Endotoxin Quantitation Kit is a highly sensitive quantitative assay that accurately measures and detects endotoxins in a protein, peptide, nucleic acid, or antibody sample using the amebocyte lysate assay. Benefits of the Pierce Chromogenic Endotoxin Quant Kit include:
- Sensitive—detect as little as 0.01 EU/mL to 1 EU/mL
- Specific—no interference from ß-glucans and suitable for a wide range of samples, including protein, vaccine, plasmid, DNA, RNA
- Fast—perform the assay in as little as 20 minutes
- Flexible—measure with a standard spectrophotometer or plate reader at 405–410 nm
- Versatile—405 nm absorbance reading is compatible with common ELISA plate readers
 Pierce Chromogenic Endotoxin Quant Kit | |
| Sensitivity range (EU/mL) | 0.01–1.0 |
| Detection method | Colorimetric |
| Assay time (min) | 20 |
| β-glucan interference | No interference with quantitation |
| Pack sizes | 30, 60 and 240 reactions |
| Order now | |
Thermo Scientific Pierce High Capacity Endotoxin Removal Resin selectively binds and removes endotoxins from protein, peptide and antibody samples using a modified ε-poly-L-lysine [poly(ε-lysine)] affinity ligand. Endotoxin levels in biological samples are reduced by up to 99% in as little as 1 hour using our spin column format, and protein recovery is ≥ 85%. Pierce High Capacity Endotoxin Removal Resin is available as a slurry to pack a custom column or in convenient pre-packed, single-use spin columns optimized for different sample volumes.
- High capacity—bind up to 2,000,000 EU/mL to eliminate >99% of endotoxins
- Durable—reuse resin up to 10 times
- Selective—recover ≥85% of your protein sample
- High performance—complies with FDA guidelines by reducing final EU concentration to <5 EU/mL
- Fast—our spin column format enables endotoxin depletion typically within 1 hour
- Clean—single-use spin columns avoid cross contamination of samples
- Optimized—spin columns are optimized for different sample volumes
- Economical—large-volume discounts available
Choose the right endotoxin removal product
 |  |  |  | |
| Format | Spin column | Spin column | Spin column | Loose resin |
| Column size (mL) | 0.25 | 0.5 | 1 | Varies |
| Sample volume (mL) | 0.5–1 | 1.0–4.0 | 2.0–10 | Varies |
| Order | 5 columns | 5 columns | 5 columns | 10 mL |
| 25 columns | 25 columns | 100 mL | ||
| 250 mL |
Binding capacity
Table 1. Efficiently remove endotoxins from heavily contaminated samples. Thermo Scientific Pierce High Capacity Endotoxin Removal Spin Columns, 0.5 mL, were challenged for 1 hour with protein (2 mL of 1 mg/mL BSA) containing 5,000 to 500,000 EU/mL from E. coli strain 055:B5. Even at the highest endotoxin levels clean-up was >98%.
| Initial endotoxin concentration (EU/mL)* | Final endotoxin concentration (EU/mL) | Endotoxin removal efficiency | Protein recovery |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5,000 | <1 | 99.98% | >90% |
| 12,500 | <1 | 99.99% | >90% |
| 25,000 | 1.26 | 99.99% | >90% |
| 50,000 | 7.1 | 99.99% | >90% |
| 250,000 | 32 | 99.98% | >90% |
| 500,000 | 9,600 | 99.08% | >90% |
Protein compatibility
Table 2. Endotoxin removal and protein recovery of various proteins at different molecular weights and isoelectric points. Pierce High Capacity Endotoxin Removal Spin Columns, 0.5 mL, were challenged for 1 hour with different proteins of various molecular weight and charge. In all samples endotoxin removal was >99% and protein recovery was >85%.
| Protein (1 mg/mL) | Molecular weight (Da) | Isoelectric point (pI) | Initial endotoxin concentration (EU/mL) | Final endotoxin concentration (EU/mL) | Endotoxin removal efficiency | Protein recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cytochrome C | 12,000 | 10.6 | 10,000 | 1.35 | >99.9% | 86% |
| Myoglobin | 17,000 | 6.8 | 10,000 | 3.68 | >99.9% | 87% |
| Bovine serum albumin (BSA) | 66,000 | 4.9 | 10,000 | 0.80 | >99.9% | 85% |
| Bovine gamma globulin (BGG) | 150,000 | 7.4 | 10,000 | 4.60 | >99.9% | 92% |
| >99.9% |
| >99.9% |
Thermo Scientific provides the necessary endotoxin-free accessory items needed to successfully detect and quantitate endotoxins in biological samples. These high-quality accessories include essential buffers, assay test tubes and plates, and beta-glucan blocking solutions, all of which help minimize invalid results and the need for repeating tests.
NEW Pierce Endotoxin-Free Water
Endotoxin-free water is free of endotoxins and enzymes, including DNAse, RNAse, and proteases. This is recommended for the dilution of endotoxin standards and test samples for all endotoxin detection assays.
NEW Pierce Endotoxin-Free MgCl2 Buffer
Endotoxin-free MgCl2 buffer is used to prepare samples for any endotoxin assay. As a diluent, it will eliminate the inhibitory chelation effects of EDTA.
NEW Pierce Endotoxin-Free Tris Buffer, 50 mM
This buffer may be used to dilute samples for any of the endotoxin detection assays and for adjusting the pH of the LAL endotoxin test samples.
NEW Pierce β-Glucan-Blocker
β-Glucan-Blocker is added to the samples to ascertain the validity of the positive control results and rule out false positive results that can come from sample contamination with glucans.
NEW Pierce Endotoxin-Free 12 x 8-well Plate Strips
These products are individually wrapped 8-well strips that are ideal to use when running fewer than 96 tests.
NEW Pierce Endotoxin-Free Glass Test Tubes
The endotoxin-free glass test tubes contain less than 0.005 EU/mL endotoxin and are recommended for use as reaction tubes in gel clot assays.
NEW Pierce Rapid Gel Clot Endotoxin Assay Kit
The Pierce Rapid Gel Clot Assay is an endpoint endotoxin assay that provides rapid and easy-to-read qualitative results indicating the presence or absence of gram-negative bacterial endotoxin in a sample without the use of equipment or software.
NEW Pierce Rapid Gel Clot Endotoxin Assay | ||||
| Sensitivity range (EU/mL) | 0.03 | 0.125 | 0.25 | 0.5 |
| Detection method | Visual | |||
| Assay time (min) | 15–25 depending on sensitivity of the selected kit | 15–25 depending on sensitivity of the selected kit | 15–25 depending on sensitivity of the selected kit | 15–25 depending on sensitivity of the selected kit |
| β-glucan interference | No | |||
| Pack sizes | 10 reactions | |||
| Order now | Order now | Order now | Order now | |
We offer multiple products that accurately detect the amount of endotoxin in a sample. These quantitation kits are ideal for processing multiple samples simultaneously.
Chromogenic Endotoxin Quantitation Kit
The Chromogenic Endotoxin Quantitation Kit is a highly sensitive quantitative assay that accurately measures and detects endotoxins in a protein, peptide, nucleic acid, or antibody sample using the amebocyte lysate assay. Benefits of the Pierce Chromogenic Endotoxin Quant Kit include:
- Sensitive—detect as little as 0.01 EU/mL to 1 EU/mL
- Specific—no interference from ß-glucans and suitable for a wide range of samples, including protein, vaccine, plasmid, DNA, RNA
- Fast—perform the assay in as little as 20 minutes
- Flexible—measure with a standard spectrophotometer or plate reader at 405–410 nm
- Versatile—405 nm absorbance reading is compatible with common ELISA plate readers
Pierce Chromogenic Endotoxin Quant Kit | |
| Sensitivity range (EU/mL) | 0.01–1.0 |
| Detection method | Colorimetric |
| Assay time (min) | 20 |
| β-glucan interference | No interference with quantitation |
| Pack sizes | 30, 60 and 240 reactions |
| Order now | |
Thermo Scientific Pierce High Capacity Endotoxin Removal Resin selectively binds and removes endotoxins from protein, peptide and antibody samples using a modified ε-poly-L-lysine [poly(ε-lysine)] affinity ligand. Endotoxin levels in biological samples are reduced by up to 99% in as little as 1 hour using our spin column format, and protein recovery is ≥ 85%. Pierce High Capacity Endotoxin Removal Resin is available as a slurry to pack a custom column or in convenient pre-packed, single-use spin columns optimized for different sample volumes.
- High capacity—bind up to 2,000,000 EU/mL to eliminate >99% of endotoxins
- Durable—reuse resin up to 10 times
- Selective—recover ≥85% of your protein sample
- High performance—complies with FDA guidelines by reducing final EU concentration to <5 EU/mL
- Fast—our spin column format enables endotoxin depletion typically within 1 hour
- Clean—single-use spin columns avoid cross contamination of samples
- Optimized—spin columns are optimized for different sample volumes
- Economical—large-volume discounts available
Choose the right endotoxin removal product
| | | | |
| Format | Spin column | Spin column | Spin column | Loose resin |
| Column size (mL) | 0.25 | 0.5 | 1 | Varies |
| Sample volume (mL) | 0.5–1 | 1.0–4.0 | 2.0–10 | Varies |
| Order | 5 columns | 5 columns | 5 columns | 10 mL |
| 25 columns | 25 columns | 100 mL | ||
| 250 mL |
Binding capacity
Table 1. Efficiently remove endotoxins from heavily contaminated samples. Thermo Scientific Pierce High Capacity Endotoxin Removal Spin Columns, 0.5 mL, were challenged for 1 hour with protein (2 mL of 1 mg/mL BSA) containing 5,000 to 500,000 EU/mL from E. coli strain 055:B5. Even at the highest endotoxin levels clean-up was >98%.
| Initial endotoxin concentration (EU/mL)* | Final endotoxin concentration (EU/mL) | Endotoxin removal efficiency | Protein recovery |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5,000 | <1 | 99.98% | >90% |
| 12,500 | <1 | 99.99% | >90% |
| 25,000 | 1.26 | 99.99% | >90% |
| 50,000 | 7.1 | 99.99% | >90% |
| 250,000 | 32 | 99.98% | >90% |
| 500,000 | 9,600 | 99.08% | >90% |
Protein compatibility
Table 2. Endotoxin removal and protein recovery of various proteins at different molecular weights and isoelectric points. Pierce High Capacity Endotoxin Removal Spin Columns, 0.5 mL, were challenged for 1 hour with different proteins of various molecular weight and charge. In all samples endotoxin removal was >99% and protein recovery was >85%.
| Protein (1 mg/mL) | Molecular weight (Da) | Isoelectric point (pI) | Initial endotoxin concentration (EU/mL) | Final endotoxin concentration (EU/mL) | Endotoxin removal efficiency | Protein recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cytochrome C | 12,000 | 10.6 | 10,000 | 1.35 | >99.9% | 86% |
| Myoglobin | 17,000 | 6.8 | 10,000 | 3.68 | >99.9% | 87% |
| Bovine serum albumin (BSA) | 66,000 | 4.9 | 10,000 | 0.80 | >99.9% | 85% |
| Bovine gamma globulin (BGG) | 150,000 | 7.4 | 10,000 | 4.60 | >99.9% | 92% |
| >99.9% |
| >99.9% |
Thermo Scientific provides the necessary endotoxin-free accessory items needed to successfully detect and quantitate endotoxins in biological samples. These high-quality accessories include essential buffers, assay test tubes and plates, and beta-glucan blocking solutions, all of which help minimize invalid results and the need for repeating tests.
NEW Pierce Endotoxin-Free Water
Endotoxin-free water is free of endotoxins and enzymes, including DNAse, RNAse, and proteases. This is recommended for the dilution of endotoxin standards and test samples for all endotoxin detection assays.
NEW Pierce Endotoxin-Free MgCl2 Buffer
Endotoxin-free MgCl2 buffer is used to prepare samples for any endotoxin assay. As a diluent, it will eliminate the inhibitory chelation effects of EDTA.
NEW Pierce Endotoxin-Free Tris Buffer, 50 mM
This buffer may be used to dilute samples for any of the endotoxin detection assays and for adjusting the pH of the LAL endotoxin test samples.
NEW Pierce β-Glucan-Blocker
β-Glucan-Blocker is added to the samples to ascertain the validity of the positive control results and rule out false positive results that can come from sample contamination with glucans.
NEW Pierce Endotoxin-Free 12 x 8-well Plate Strips
These products are individually wrapped 8-well strips that are ideal to use when running fewer than 96 tests.
NEW Pierce Endotoxin-Free Glass Test Tubes
The endotoxin-free glass test tubes contain less than 0.005 EU/mL endotoxin and are recommended for use as reaction tubes in gel clot assays.
Overview of Endotoxin Testing Methods
Address your endotoxin testing needs. Discover how our various endotoxin testing assays can be used with different sample types to qualitatively determine the presence or absence of endotoxin, to quantify the amount of endotoxin, and to efficiently remove endotoxin. Learn how these testing methods are being employed in novel research directions, such as microbiome analysis, water testing, and more.
Using the Pierce Chromogenic Endotoxin Quant Kit
Watch our video that provides step-by-step instructions for using this kit to quantitate endotoxins in research samples.
Endotoxin quantitation kits ordering information
Endotoxin removal product ordering information
Endotoxin-free accessories ordering information
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For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.