Description
Bovine serum albumin (BSA), also known as the fifth fraction, is a globulin in bovine serum containing 607 amino acid residues and has a wide range of applications in biochemical experiments.BSA is a soluble monomeric protein synthesized in the liver and has a molecular weight of 66.5 kDa.It serves the following important functions:
Stabilizer: BSA is usually added as a stabilizer to restriction digest reactions, enzyme preservation solutions and reaction solutions to stabilize enzyme activity and prevent enzyme decomposition and non-specific adsorption.
Carrier: BSA stabilizes extracellular fluid volume and is a carrier for a variety of small molecules, including steroids, fatty acids and thyroid hormones in serum.
Antioxidant: BSA has antioxidant properties that trap harmful free radicals.
In cell culture, supplementation with BSA promotes cell growth and survival, especially when using serum-free media. In addition, BSA is commonly used as a containment reagent in immunoassays such as ELISA and immunoblotting.