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Gradient Materials and Construction of Gradients

Centrifugation in Density Gradients, Page: 114-149
1982
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Book Chapter Description

This chapter discusses the properties of the common gradient materials. Density gradients are usually prepared from solutions or sols of materials, which are considerably denser than water. The density of most gradient solutions is greater than 1.0 gm/cm 3. Excluding nonaqueous gradients for the present, the properties of the ideal solute for gradients are—freely soluble in water, very dense, nonviscous, negligible osmotic pressure, physiologically and chemically inactive, transparent in visible and ultraviolet light, and cheap. Common sugar is easily the most widely used gradient material. Although sucrose gradients have been used more than any other for the separation of the membrane-bound organelles, they are almost certainly inferior to silica and Ficoll. Mannitol was greatly favored over sucrose by early physiologists as an osmoticum, presumably because it penetrated cell membranes less rapidly than sucrose. More recently, mannitol has been recommended over sucrose in the isolation of mitochondria. Ficoll has become the most generally useful among polymeric gradient materials.

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