Question
Asked 4th Oct, 2015
  • Advanced Seed Research and Biotech Centre ACI Ltd

How may I prepare 100ml Tris-Urea Buffer for protein extraction?

I have prepared some stock solutions which are required for Tris-Urea Buffer (0.05M Tris HCl, 2% SDS, 5M Urea, 1% B-merceptoethnol). Each stock solution are about 100ml volume.
Now I need to know which amounts would be taken from these stock solutions to make 100 ml Tris-Urea Buffer.
Your kind advice is always appreciable.

Most recent answer

Qiaoyou Weng
University of Washington Seattle
Does this elution buffer work for HIs-tag protein purification?

Popular answers (1)

From our lab protocols:
For 100 ml of your buffer you will need to weigh out dry urea (30.3 g) into a 250 ml beaker. Add 10 ml of 0.5 M Tris stock (at the pH you want), add 20 ml 10% SDS stock. Add a stir bar. Add distilled water slowly while stirring to dissolve all the urea, but do not exceed about 90 ml volume. The dissolution of urea is endothermic, so the solution will get cold. Do not heat it! Urea is not very heat stable and can form intermediates that react with proteins if heated. Let it dissolve at room temperature even if it takes a while. Check and adjust the pH of the solution if necessary (at 25 °C -- Tris buffer pH is temperature dependent!*). In a fume hood add 1 ml pure mercaptoethanol. Stir. Transfer the solution carefully to a 100 ml volumetric flask (a 100 ml graduated cylinder is probably okay for what you are doing, which does not require extreme accuracy). Rinse the beaker with a few ml of distilled water and add the rinse to the volumetric container. Make the volume up to the mark with distilled water. Transfer to a clean screw-cap container. Store at room temp and use within a week. For some applications, like FPLC, you will need to filter this (0.45 um or less) before use.
*Adjusting pH can introduce ions you don't want. Think about this before you do it. The alternative is to predetermine what the stock pH needs to be to give you the final diluted pH that you want by making some test solutions. Also, you can deliberately make your pH a little higher or lower than you want, so that your adjustment will be with something that is of no concern. e.g. if you want to avoid introducing sodium ions, make your pH a little high so that you will have to adjust it with e.g. HCl rather than e.g. NaOH.
I think this is actually what you want, but it should at least give you some idea of how to do it.
8 Recommendations

All Answers (6)

Yasmin Bano
Defence Research and Development Eshtablishment
there are two ways to prepare 100ml Tris-Urea Buffer.
1. you have to calculate volume of each chemical which is required, for this use dilution equation: M1V1=M2V2.
M1=concentration in molarity (moles/Liters) of the stock solution
M2=concentration in molarity of the dilute solution (after more solvent has been added)
V1=volume of the stock solution (unknown), and
V2=volume of the dilute solution.
(here you do not show the concentrations of stock solutions)
2. you can calculate the amount of each chemical for 100ml (required concentration or molarity) and dissolve all in little amount of DW and then add more DW to make final volume100ml.
6 Recommendations
From our lab protocols:
For 100 ml of your buffer you will need to weigh out dry urea (30.3 g) into a 250 ml beaker. Add 10 ml of 0.5 M Tris stock (at the pH you want), add 20 ml 10% SDS stock. Add a stir bar. Add distilled water slowly while stirring to dissolve all the urea, but do not exceed about 90 ml volume. The dissolution of urea is endothermic, so the solution will get cold. Do not heat it! Urea is not very heat stable and can form intermediates that react with proteins if heated. Let it dissolve at room temperature even if it takes a while. Check and adjust the pH of the solution if necessary (at 25 °C -- Tris buffer pH is temperature dependent!*). In a fume hood add 1 ml pure mercaptoethanol. Stir. Transfer the solution carefully to a 100 ml volumetric flask (a 100 ml graduated cylinder is probably okay for what you are doing, which does not require extreme accuracy). Rinse the beaker with a few ml of distilled water and add the rinse to the volumetric container. Make the volume up to the mark with distilled water. Transfer to a clean screw-cap container. Store at room temp and use within a week. For some applications, like FPLC, you will need to filter this (0.45 um or less) before use.
*Adjusting pH can introduce ions you don't want. Think about this before you do it. The alternative is to predetermine what the stock pH needs to be to give you the final diluted pH that you want by making some test solutions. Also, you can deliberately make your pH a little higher or lower than you want, so that your adjustment will be with something that is of no concern. e.g. if you want to avoid introducing sodium ions, make your pH a little high so that you will have to adjust it with e.g. HCl rather than e.g. NaOH.
I think this is actually what you want, but it should at least give you some idea of how to do it.
8 Recommendations
Md Ataur Rahman
Advanced Seed Research and Biotech Centre ACI Ltd
Thank you so much Sir...Kartner
I am so glad that you have described many things in details. You have also concern me about urea is endothermic and the use of fume hood at the time of adding mercaptoethanol. These are really helpful. Now I hope, I can make the buffer. 
Have a nice time.
Md Ataur Rahman
Advanced Seed Research and Biotech Centre ACI Ltd
Yasmin Bano.
Thank you so much madam. You have showed two ways. Firstly I will try your 2nd way.
Have a nice time madam,.
1 Recommendation
Kelly Kiremidjian
University of California, Los Angeles
Md Ataur Rahman can this Tris Urea Buffer for protein extraction be used for western blot?
Qiaoyou Weng
University of Washington Seattle
Does this elution buffer work for HIs-tag protein purification?

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