What is the role of beta-mercaptoethanol?

Gibco™ 2-Mercaptoethanol (also known as beta-mercaptoethanol or BME) is a potent reducing agent used in cell culture media to prevent toxic levels of oxygen radicals.

What happens to proteins when they are treated with β mercaptoethanol?

The role of beta-mercaptoethanol is to break all the disulfide bonds and denature the protein of interest.

Is beta-mercaptoethanol volatile?

Vapors can irritate the eyes, mucous membranes, and respiratory tract. Symptoms of inhalation exposure may include coughing, sore throat, and/or shortness of breath. When BME is heated to decomposition, toxic fumes including sulfur oxides and carbon oxides will be emitted. BME is combustible as a liquid or vapor!

Why beta-mercaptoethanol is used in RNA extraction?

BME is used in some RNA isolation procedures to eliminate ribonuclease (RNAses) released during cell lysis. Numerous disulfide bonds make RNAses very stable enzymes, therefore BME is used to reduce these disulfide bonds and irreversibly denature the proteins.

What happens in the case of excess 2-mercaptoethanol?

In the case of excess 2-mercaptoethanol, the following equilibrium is shifted to the right: By breaking the S-S bonds, both the tertiary structure and the quaternary structure of some proteins can be disrupted.

What kind of test is mercaptoethanol used for?

The 2-mercaptoethanol (2-ME) agglutination test for the diagnosis of brucellosis is performed similar to STAT, except for the addition of 2-ME (final concentration of 0.05 M) in each agglutination tube ( Buchanan & Faber, 1980 ).

How are microliters of 2 mercaptoethanol heated?

Five microliters of 2-mercaptoethanol (Sigma) was added to 95 μl of the cross-linking samples, the samples were heated for 5 min at 65°C, and subjected to electrophoresis through 7.5% (w/v) SDS-polyacrylamide gels (18 ). The gel was dried under vacuum, and autoradiographed at −70°C with an intensifying screen (Kodak, Rochester, NY).

What kind of liquid is beta mercaptoethanol?

2-Mercaptoethanol, PharmaGrade, Manufactured under appropriate controls for use as raw material in pharma or biopharmaceutical production. 2-mercaptoethanol,beta-mercaptoethanol,2-hydroxy-1-ethanethiol,2-hydroxyethyl mercaptan,monothioethyleneglycol,thioglycol Thioglycol appears as a water -white liquid.