Reconstitution practices that preserve your sequence
Shearing, oxidation and adsorptive loss all happen at the bench, after the material leaves our hands. A few habits prevent most of it.
Reconstitution, start to aliquot
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Equilibrate before opening
Let the vial reach room temperature sealed, so humid air does not condense into the cake.
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Solvent down the wall
A slow stream of bacteriostatic water against the inner wall, pooling over the cake — never jetted onto the powder.
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Swirl, do not vortex
Gentle swirling or simply standing will dissolve almost any research peptide. Vortexing and sonication add heat and shear.
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Handle Met and free Cys sequences last
They oxidise in solution — reconstitute immediately before use.
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Aliquot once, into single-use volumes
Every freeze-thaw cycle costs material. Split the stock now rather than thawing it repeatedly.
Most reconstitution loss is mechanical and happens in the first two minutes.
A batch that arrives at 99% purity can be measurably degraded within minutes of reconstitution if it is handled roughly.
## Add solvent to the wall, not the powder
Direct a slow stream of bacteriostatic water down the inner wall of the vial and let it pool over the cake. Jetting solvent onto lyophilised powder introduces shear that longer sequences do not tolerate well.
## Swirl, do not vortex
Give it time. Gentle swirling or simply leaving the vial to stand will dissolve almost any research peptide. Vortexing and sonication generate local heat and shear.
## Mind the methionines and cysteines
Sequences containing Met or free Cys residues oxidise in solution. MOTS-c and reduced glutathione are the obvious examples in our catalog. Reconstitute those immediately before use, and do not store them in solution longer than necessary.
## Aliquot once
Every freeze-thaw cycle costs you material. Aliquot into single-use volumes on first reconstitution rather than repeatedly thawing a single stock.
