Urea Treatment
Urea Treatment - Related Videos
08:44
Denaturing Urea Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (Urea PAGE)
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Cited by 104 •
2009
Denaturing urea polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis is used to separate single-stranded DNA or RNA up to a limit of 500 nucleotides. Urea in combination with heat denatures samples and unstructured single strands migrate within the gel matrix according to their molecular weight.
01:23
Urea Cycle
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2025
The urea cycle describes how liver cells convert ammonia to urea. Ammonia is a toxic waste product of protein catabolism. Land animals must convert ammonia into the less toxic urea which can be safely eliminated by the kidneys through urine. Marine animals excrete ammonia directly, and the surrounding water dilutes the ammonia to safe levels. There are five basic steps in the urea cycle: the conversion of ammonia (NH3) to carbamoyl phosphate the introduction of ornithine in the...
07:52
Removal of Branched and Cyclic Compounds by Urea Adduction for Uk'37 Paleothermometry
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2023
Source: Laboratory of Jeff Salacup - University of Massachusetts Amherst As mentioned in previous videos, the product of an organic solvent extraction, a total lipid extract (TLE), is often a complex mixture of hundreds, if not thousands, of different compounds. The researcher is often only interested in a handful of compounds. In the case of our two organic paleothermometers (Uk'37 and MBT/CBT), the interest is in only 6 compounds (2 alkenones and 4 isoprenoidal glycerol dialkyl glycerol...
05:34
Denaturing Urea Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis for RNA Analysis: A Technique to Separate Fluorescently Labeled Phosphorylated RNA Oligonucleotides from their Non-Phosphorylated Equivalents
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2025
In this video, we demonstrate a denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis for the separation of phosphorylated RNA species from their non-phosphorylated counterparts. The RNA species are fluorescently labeled for laser detection on the gel.
11:39
The Goeckerman Regimen for the Treatment of Moderate to Severe Psoriasis
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Cited by 26 •
2013
Psoriasis is a chronic, immune-mediated inflammatory skin disease. The Goeckerman regimen, formulated for the treatment of psoriasis, consists of exposure to ultraviolet B (UVB) light and application of crude coal tar (CCT). The following protocol is for the administration of Goeckerman therapy for the treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis.
FAQs
Urea weakens the noncovalent interactions that maintain folded protein conformations. It disrupts hydrogen bonding and reduces the contribution of hydrophobic interactions, allowing protein chains to lose their organized structure. This molecular change exposes previously constrained regions and can make proteins more accessible to chemical analysis or easier to dissolve in prepared samples.
The concentration determines whether urea produces a strong enough chemical environment to disrupt structured molecules. At sufficiently high concentrations, its chaotropic action promotes unfolding and solubilization, while controlled exposure helps researchers prepare samples without treating concentration as an incidental detail. Selecting appropriate conditions therefore affects the extent of structural disruption and the resulting analytical sample.
Urea treatment links changes in intermolecular forces to practical solubility outcomes. By weakening hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions, urea can reduce the stability of compact structures that resist dissolution. The treated material may then disperse more readily, which is particularly useful when the goal is to extract, denature, or analyze proteins and other structured biological molecules.
Its value comes from changing molecular organization before measurement rather than merely adding volume or adjusting a sample. Urea can disrupt structure, improve solubility, and expose molecular components that may otherwise remain difficult to examine. These effects support analytical workflows in which sample composition, protein behavior, or extracted material must be evaluated after controlled chemical conditioning.
A typical approach applies urea to the material under controlled treatment conditions, allows the reagent to alter structure or solubility, and then uses the prepared sample in a downstream analysis. The specific workflow depends on whether the objective is denaturation, extraction, or dissolution. Careful control is important because the treatment directly influences sample composition and accessibility.
Researchers may choose it when proteins or other biological materials are difficult to dissolve, remain structurally compact, or require denaturation before analysis. Urea treatment can support extraction and improve preparation for electrophoresis or mass spectrometry. It is therefore useful when changing molecular structure or solubility will produce a more suitable sample for examining composition or protein behavior.