Skip to Content
Merck
All Photos(1)

Key Documents

P4937

Sigma-Aldrich

Percoll®

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

Synonym(s):

Density gradient medium

Sign Into View Organizational & Contract Pricing


About This Item

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

sterility

aseptically filled

Quality Level

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

Looking for similar products? Visit Product Comparison Guide

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

Certificates of Analysis (COA)

Search for Certificates of Analysis (COA) by entering the products Lot/Batch Number. Lot and Batch Numbers can be found on a product’s label following the words ‘Lot’ or ‘Batch’.

Already Own This Product?

Find documentation for the products that you have recently purchased in the Document Library.

Visit the Document Library

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
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
Density gradients prepared from colloidal silica particles coated by polyvinylpyrrolidone (Percoll).
H Pertoft et al.
Analytical biochemistry, 88(1), 271-282 (1978-07-15)
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
Teresa Purzner et al.
Science signaling, 11(547) (2018-09-13)
A major limitation of targeted cancer therapy is the rapid emergence of drug resistance, which often arises through mutations at or downstream of the drug target or through intrinsic resistance of subpopulations of tumor cells. Medulloblastoma (MB), the most common

Protocols

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.

Our team of scientists has experience in all areas of research including Life Science, Material Science, Chemical Synthesis, Chromatography, Analytical and many others.

Contact Technical Service