Introduction:  

Desthiobiotin-PEG4-acid is a reactive reagent with an extended spacer arm. This reagent is soluble in organic solvents such as DMSO or DMF. Once dissolved in an organic solvent, the reagent is further diluted in a non-amine containing aqueous buffer. NHS esters react efficiently with primary amino groups (-NH2) in pH 7-9 buffers to form stable amide bonds. Because antibodies and other proteins generally contain multiple lysine (K) residues in addition to the N-terminus of each polypeptide, they have multiple primary amines available as targets for labeling with NHS-activated PEG reagents.

Important Product Information:

Desthiobiotin-PEG4-acid is moisture-sensitive. Store the vial of the reagent at -20°C with desiccant. To avoid moisture condensation onto the product, equilibrate vial to room temperature before opening.

Dissolve NHS-PEG-linker immediately before use. The NHS-ester moiety readily hydrolyzes and becomes non-reactive; therefore, weigh and dissolve only a small amount of the reagent at a time and do not prepare stock solutions for storage. Discard any unused reconstituted reagent.

? Avoid buffers containing primary amines (e.g., Tris or glycine) as these compete with the intended reaction. If necessary, dialyze or otherwise desalt to exchange the protein sample into an amine-free buffer such as phosphate buffered saline.