Steroids and derivatives

Gold Biotechnology Inc Digitonin Special Grade

Digitonin is a nonionic saponin steroid derived from the plant Digitalis purpurea It is useful for creating Digitonin-cholesterol complexes which form when Digitonin disrupts the cell membrane and binds with cholesterol in a nearly 1 1 stoichiometric ratio When precipitated from ethanolic solutions these complexes form flat lamellar sheets Digitonin s cholesterol displacing properties have been used in newer applications to quantify the rate of lysosomal membrane permeabilization (LMP) a new technique developed to bypass traditional cell death pathways Digitonin permeabilizes plasma membranes but leaves lysosomal membranes intact allowing for a quantifiable measurement of lysosomal hydrolases and comparison to normal cellular enzyme activity Digitonin has been shown to induce hemolysis in red blood cells