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P4937

Sigma-Aldrich

Percoll®

pH 8.5-9.5 (25 °C), suitable for cell culture

Synonym(s):

Density gradient medium

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About This Item

MDL number:
MFCD00131830
UNSPSC Code:
12161902
NACRES:
NA.75

sterility

aseptically filled

Quality Level

200

technique(s)

cell culture | mammalian: suitable
single cell analysis: suitable

pH

8.5-9.5 (25 °C)

density

1.13 g/mL±0.005 g/mL at 25 °C (lit.)

storage temp.

2-8°C

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General description

Percoll® is a classic medium for density gradient centrifugation of cells, viruses, and subcellular particles. It consists of colloidal silica particles of 15-30 nm diameter (23% w/w in water), which have been coated with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). The PVP coating renders the product completely non-toxic and ideal for use with biological materials. Due to its heterogeneity in particle size, sedimentation occurs at different rates, spontaneously creating very smooth, isometric gradients in the range of 1.0-1.3 g/ml.

Application

Percoll consists of colloidal silica particles of 15-30 nm diameter (23% w/w in water) which have been coated with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). It is used to establish non-toxic low viscosity, low osmolarity density gradients that can be used to isolate cells, organelles and viruses. It has been used to separate inner and outer membrane vesicles from E. coli. Percoll is isosmotic throughout the gradient, non-toxic, and is easily removed from the purified materials.
Percoll® has been used in the centrifugal separation of:
  • neonatal rat ventricular cardiomyocytes
  • leucocytes from a blood sample
  • peritubular myoid (PM) cells
Suitable for use in preparation of single cell suspension for sequencing.

Features and Benefits

  • Low osmolality permits precise adjustment to physiological conditions without significant interference from the medium.
  • Compatible with living cells and viruses and allows separation and recovery of intact, fully active systems.
  • Impermeable to biological membranes, resulting in no change of buoyant density of particles during centrifugation.
  • Spontaneous formation of gradient during centrifugation allows mixing of large sample volumes in the centrifuge tubes.
  • Low viscosity results in rapid formation of gradients and particle separation.
  • Most biological particles having sedimentation coefficient values greater than 60S can be successfully isolated in Percoll gradients.

Legal Information

Percoll is a registered trademark of Cytiva

related product

Product No.
Description
Pricing

Storage Class Code

12 - Non Combustible Liquids

WGK

nwg

Flash Point(F)

Not applicable

Flash Point(C)

Not applicable

Personal Protective Equipment

dust mask type N95 (US), Eyeshields, Gloves

Choose from one of the most recent versions:

Certificates of Analysis (COA)

Lot/Batch Number
0000405988
0000380637
0000380636
0000397552
0000380517

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If you require a particular version, you can look up a specific certificate by the Lot or Batch number.

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  1. Can you help me calculate gradients for Percoll®, Product P1644?

    The product information sheet (under Documents, above) has an equation for calculating density of a given solution.

  2. When using Product P1644, Percoll®, what density should I use for my particular system?

    The product information sheet (under Documents, above) has a table of densities for different organelles and cell types.

  3. Is there a "best" salt solution to use with Product P1644, Percoll®?

    Percoll can be used with various salt formulations (PBS, 1.5 M NaCl, HBSS, etc.). Physiological saline and balanced salt solutions can be suggested.  Sucrose is included to prevent aggregation.  You can find detailed preparation instructions on the product information sheet (under Documents, above) for this product.

  4. Can Percoll®, Product P1644, be autoclaved?

    Percoll can be autoclaved, but this must be done without any salts or sucrose present.

  5. Which document(s) contains shelf-life or expiration date information for a given product?

    If available for a given product, the recommended re-test date or the expiration date can be found on the Certificate of Analysis.

  6. How do I get lot-specific information or a Certificate of Analysis?

    The lot specific COA document can be found by entering the lot number above under the "Documents" section.

  7. How do I find price and availability?

    There are several ways to find pricing and availability for our products. Once you log onto our website, you will find the price and availability displayed on the product detail page. You can contact any of our Customer Sales and Service offices to receive a quote.  USA customers:  1-800-325-3010 or view local office numbers.

  8. What is the Department of Transportation shipping information for this product?

    Transportation information can be found in Section 14 of the product's (M)SDS.To access the shipping information for this material, use the link on the product detail page for the product. 

  9. What is the difference between Percoll® Products P4937 and P1644?

    Product Nos. P1644 and P4937 are both Percoll. Product No. P4937 has additional testing for use in cell culture.

  10. My question is not addressed here, how can I contact Technical Service for assistance?

    Ask a Scientist here.

Maryam Ghaedi et al.
The Journal of experimental medicine, 217(3) (2019-12-10)
Lung group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) drive allergic inflammation and promote tissue repair. ILC2 development is dependent on the transcription factor retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor (RORα), which is also expressed in common ILC progenitors. To elucidate the developmental
Density gradients prepared from colloidal silica particles coated by polyvinylpyrrolidone (Percoll).
H Pertoft et al.
Analytical biochemistry, 88(1), 271-282 (1978-07-15)
Hila Doron et al.
Cell reports, 28(7), 1785-1798 (2019-08-15)
Melanoma is the deadliest skin cancer due to its high rate of metastasis, frequently to the brain. Brain metastases are incurable; therefore, understanding melanoma brain metastasis is of great clinical importance. We used a mouse model of spontaneous melanoma brain
Ann-Chang Cheng et al.
Veterinary immunology and immunopathology, 121(3-4), 206-215 (2007-11-06)
Brown-marbled grouper Epinephelus fuscoguttatus which had been fed diets containing sodium alginate and kappa (kappa)-carrageenan at 5, 10 and 20gkg(-1), respectively after 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 14 weeks were examined for survival, growth, innate cellular and humoral responses
Nunzia Pastore et al.
Nature communications, 11(1), 2461-2461 (2020-05-20)
It is well established that pluripotent stem cells in fetal and postnatal liver (LPCs) can differentiate into both hepatocytes and cholangiocytes. However, the signaling pathways implicated in the differentiation of LPCs are still incompletely understood. Transcription Factor EB (TFEB), a
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Protocols

How to Make and Use Percoll Gradients

To prepare a Percoll gradient, the osmolality of Percoll must be adjusted with saline or cell culture medium to make Percoll isotonic with physiological salt solutions.

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