Biochemicals for research
Research biochemicals are low-molecular-weight compounds used as experimental tools: enzyme inhibitors and activators, receptor agonists and antagonists, substrates, dyes, tracers, lipids and analytical standards. Cayman Chemical covers most of the CABRU range for this type of product: it is present in the catalogue with 67,119 references corresponding to 23,429 distinct products offered in 265 different pack sizes; 63,952 of them are neither antibodies nor kits, that is, they are molecules. G Biosciences completes the picture with proteomics and molecular-biology reagents and standards.
The main families and what they are for
Their uses include administration in vitro to cell cultures or in vivo to laboratory animals, to study cellular and systemic effects, or use as reference compounds in chromatographic analysis.
| Family | Cayman references | Experimental use |
|---|---|---|
| Inhibitors | 17,286 | Switching a target off to attribute an observed effect to it |
| Agonists and antagonists | 8,516 | Modulating a receptor in a controlled, reversible way |
| Deuterated standards | 3,104 | Internal standards for LC-MS/MS, co-eluting with the analyte |
| Prostaglandins and eicosanoids | 1,133 | Inflammation and arachidonic-acid pathway research |
| Sphingolipids | 166 | Lipid signalling and membrane metabolism |
How to read a declared potency
In the catalogue, 29,392 descriptions report an IC50, Ki or EC50 value. These numbers are useful but not transferable: an IC50 depends on the conditions of the assay in which it was measured — substrate concentration, enzyme amount, incubation time — and two values obtained in different laboratories are not comparable without reading the method. Ki is an affinity constant and travels further, but it still rests on the assumed inhibition model. The practical criterion is a different one: before choosing an inhibitor, look at selectivity against neighbouring targets, because a potent but unselective compound produces a phenotype that cannot be attributed to anything.
Solvents, pack sizes and storage
Many references are not powders: eicosanoids, lipids and unstable compounds are supplied in solution in ethanol, methanol or ethyl acetate, and the solvent belongs in the experimental design, because not all of them are tolerated in cell culture. DMSO stock solutions should be aliquoted: DMSO is hygroscopic, and the water it takes up makes the compound precipitate. The prevailing pack sizes are milligram amounts — 5 mg on 11,974 references, 10 mg on 10,879, 1 mg on 10,702, 25 mg on 7,260 — beside the 500 µg sizes (2,621) typical of analytical standards. Storage temperature and any sensitivity to light and oxygen are stated on the datasheet; polyunsaturated lipids are handled with air exposure kept to a minimum.
Where to go deeper and how to search
The most requested families have their own pages: the eicosanoids guide, the endocannabinoids guide and the Toxicology and forensic science page, where deuterated standards are the working tool. Identifying a compound takes only its name or CAS number: the search runs in the product catalogue, and for molecules not listed CABRU checks availability among the manufacturers it represents.