The name Tricine is derived from "tris" and "glycine". Tricine and other good buffers serve as efficient scavengers of hydroxyl radicals in a study of radiation-induced membrane damage. Tricine is widely used as an electrophoresis buffer and for the resuspension of cell pellets. Due to its lower negative charge compared to glycine, it migrates faster. It has a high ionic strength which leads to more ion movement and less protein movement. This aids the separation of low molecular weight proteins in lower percent acrylamide gels. Tricine is also used as a trailing ion that permits the resolution of small proteins at lower acrylamide concentrations than in glycine-sodium dodecyl-sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) systems.
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