Triton X-100

Structure of Triton X-100

Triton (full name Triton X-100) is a common, nonionic detergent used for solubilisation, permeabilisation, and lysis.

Usage

• Recommended shelf life: 2 years [1]
• Keep at room temperature protected from bright light
• Susceptible to autoxidation upon exposure to air. After opening, store the unused solution sealed in an air-tight vial containing minimal air space or from which the air has been purged with nitrogen gas.
• Addition of EDTA and butylated hydroxytoluene will help to prevent oxidation. Use 1 mole of butylated hydroxytoluene per 500 moles of detergent to prevent autooxidation.

Tips

from the Pierce instructions manual [2]:

• The presence of the phenyl group of Triton X-100 absorbs strongly at 280 nm. Consequently, absorbance at 280 nm

has to be adjusted when estimating protein concentration of samples solubilized using Triton X-100

• When used at concentrations greater than 0.015%, Triton X-100 will exist in micelles having MW >90,000. In this

form, the detergent cannot be removed by traditional dialysis or gel filtration. Use a removing gel in this case.

See also

• Triton in protein solubilisation - Drummond:Solubility, Knight:Protein solubility
• .. in antibody washing/blocking - Silver:Immunofluorescence
• .. as part of miniprep - Miniprep/Qiagen kit
• .. in cell lysis and protein solubilisation for Western blot - Silver: Lysate for Western
• Critical micelle concentration (CMC)

External links

• Triton at the Wikipedia