TRIS Buffer Tablets? Simple, fast, and easy to save

Tris(Hydroxymethyl) Aminomethane (TRIS) buffer solution is a biological reagent, which is a buffer solution commonly used in biological preparation and medical preparation. For example, it’s commonly used in peprotech recombinant cytokines and protein solubilization, and widely used as solvent for nucleic acid and proteins electrophoresis. Usually, it is used as a liquid, but it is not easy to store for a long time and the preparation is inconvenient. If it is made into a tablet, the above problem will be well solved.

Some researchers have provided a preparation method of TRIS buffer tablets which are ready to use, easy to store, simple and quick to prepare. The steps are as follows:
(1) TRIS, boric acid, EDTA, cross-linked amylose (weight ratio: 54:22~23:3.0~3.5:3.3~4), pulverized to make into particles with 100~200 mesh; The main material trishydroxymethylaminomethane is in the grade of pharmacopoeia; Excipients boric acid and EDTA are AR grade, crosslinked amylose and microcrystalline cellulose are biological grade;
(2) mixing and stirring evenly;
(3) Tablet press, pressure 2~4 tons;
(4) Weighing and testing;

(5) Packaging.

The pH of the TRIS buffer solution varies with temperature greatly, making it more difficult to formulate the solution. The buffer tablet provided by the method is simple and easy to use, and can be quickly opened and disintegrated as long as the tablet is put into the quantitative water, thereby obtaining a buffer solution with an accurate pH value, saving the user's manpower and material resources and improving work efficiency. At the same time, it is easy to store, carry and transport. The storage period is up to 3~5 years, and suitable for industrial production.

Edited by Suzhou Yacoo Science Co., Ltd.

Modification of zein functional drug-loaded microsphere with TRIS

As a common biological buffer, Tris(Hydroxymethyl)Aminomethane (TRIS) is not only widely used as a solvent for nucleic acids and proteins, but also as one of the main components of protein electrophoresis buffers. It can also produce a variety of chemicals and pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and it is an important intermediate for the preparation of surfactants, vulcanization accelerators and some drugs. This article will introduce another role of TRIS——modified zein functional drug-loaded microspheres.

As a natural hydrophobic macromolecule, zein has a wide range of sources, it is non-toxic, non-immunogenic, and has good biocompatibility and biodegradability. It is one of the few hydrophobic biopolymers that are allowed to be taken orally by the FDA：

(1) Its amino acid composition is very special, the proportion of non-polar amino acids is more than 50%. It can embed various substances such as polysaccharides. DNA, RNA, proteins, metal nanoparticles, quantum dots, oil droplets, and hydrophobic drugs;

(2) The amino acid residues on zein carry certain polar groups (such as ‐SH, ‐COOH, ‐NH3, and ‐OH), it provides the possibility to graft various functional molecules for chemical reaction sites and adapt to the complex and varied human environment.

Therefore, zein is an advantageous drug carrier material. However, the proportion of sulphur-containing amino acids in zein is only 2.8%, the ratio of basic amino acids is only 2.9%, and the proportion of hydroxyamino acids is 13.4%, which limits the selection of functional molecules and the effect of modification. To improve this, the researchers modified it with TRIS, including the following steps [1]:

(1) The zein and the amino protecting agent di-tert-butyl dicarbonate are dissolved in a specific dimethyl sulfoxide or ethanol aqueous solution at a mass ratio of 1:1~1.5:1, and protected from light at 25~40°C. The reaction is carried out for 12~24 hours to obtain a zein protection solution;

(2) Under the protection of nitrogen, add carbodiimide salt, N-hydroxysuccinimide and TRIS (CAS 77-86-1) to the zein protection solution, and avoid the light reaction at 25-40°C for 12~24 hours. To obtain a TRIS-zein solution;

(3) under the protection of nitrogen, adding concentrated hydrochloric acid to the tris-zein solution, and avoiding light reaction at 25-40°C for 6-8h;

(4) adjusting the pH to 5.0~6.0, transferring to a dialysis bag, centrifuging the retained solution in the dialysis bag, and lyophilizing to obtain TRIS-zein;

(5) Dissolving the hydrophobic drug and the lyophilized TRIS -zein in an aqueous solution of ethanol at a mass ratio of 1:1 to 1:10; and injecting hydrochloric acid having a pH of 2.5 to 4.5 under magnetic stirring. In the aqueous solution, after stabilization, the supernatant is centrifuged to obtain a drug-loaded microsphere;

(6) Functional modification of drug-loaded microspheres: separately prepare solutions containing different functional molecules, disperse the drug-loaded microspheres into a solution containing functional molecules, stir the reaction, centrifuge to remove the supernatant, and obtain functional drug carrying microsphere. The drug microspheres have a particle size of 100~300 nm and a drug-loading efficiency of 81.48~86.01%, and the grafting amount of the functional molecules is 1.72~1.94 times that of the unmodified zein microspheres.

The coupling of TRIS to zein significantly improves the physicochemical properties of zein. The prepared microspheres have good sphericity, uniform particle size distribution, high drug-loading efficiency, and are suitable for in vivo delivery. This research expands the application of zein in drug delivery systems and has a good application prospect in the field of medicine.

References

[1] Jiang Yanbin, Pang Jiafeng, Lu Shan, Li Zhixian, Trimethylolamine modified zein functional drug-loaded microspheres and preparation method. 2018, CN108403662A.

Edited by Suzhou Yacoo Science Co., Ltd.

TRIS, Bis-Tris, Tricine, TES, TAPS, What is the difference in application?

TRIS(Tris(Hydroxymethyl)Aminomethane), Bis-Tris, Tricine, TES, TAPS are buffers commonly used in biochemical experiments and molecular biology experiments, and they all contain the structure of TRIS. Then what are the differences in application between these buffers?

We hope that the following table could solve your doubts.

Table 1. The application of TRIS, Bis-Tris, Tricine, TES, TAPS

In specific use, buffers containing the TRIS (CAS：77-86-1) structure will form a strong or weak complex with a variety of metal ions, so the stability constant should be taken into account. In addition, the buffer range and the appropriate type of experiment also should be considered in order to obtain the best experimental results.

Edited by Suzhou Yacoo Science Co., Ltd.