Vials of bovine serum albumin product

What is Bovine Serum Albumin?

Bovine serum albumin (BSA) is a soluble monomeric protein (66.5 kDa) synthesized in the liver. BSA stabilizes extracellular fluid volume and is a carrier for a variety of small molecules, including steroids, fatty acids, and thyroid hormones in serum. In addition, BSA protein can serve as an antioxidant, trapping harmful free radicals.

Bovine serum albumin is used in many laboratory procedures:

  • Used as a standard for protein quantification
  • Used as a blocking reagent for immunoassays
  • Added as a stabilizing component to restriction enzyme digest reactions
  • Added to antibody solutions for increased antibody stability and longevity
  • Supplemented into cell culture media for enhanced nutrition

BSA selection guide

What is bovine serum albumin used for in cell culture?

Supplementation of cell culture media with BSA protein can benefit cell growth and survival, especially when using serum-free media. Bovine serum albumin binds essential molecules present in the media (e.g., fatty acids, hormones, peptides), allowing for efficient delivery of these molecules into cultured cells. The antioxidative properties of BSA protein can also reduce cellular stress and damage.

Thermo Fisher Scientific offers a variety of Gibco BSA products optimized for supplementing cell culture media, including AlbuMAX Lipid-Rich BSA, which can reduce or eliminate the need for supplementation of cell culture media with serum.

Why is bovine serum albumin used for blocking?

BSA protein is also commonly used for blocking during immunoassays, including ELISA and western blotting. As a single protein, BSA is less likely to exhibit cross-reactivity with antibodies than milk, which is a complex protein mixture. In addition, BSA protein, which is generally unphosphorylated, is often recommended for assays involving anti-phosphoprotein antibodies. Anti-phosphoprotein antibodies may nonspecifically bind phosphorylated proteins found in milk blockers (i.e., casein). However, anti-phosphoprotein antibodies are unlikely to bind BSA, reducing background.

Blocker BSA in PBS and Blocker BSA in TBS are both available from Thermo Fisher Scientific as valuable additions to your immunoassay protocols.

Fluorescent BSA proteins for tracer studies

Thermo Fisher Scientific offers bovine serum albumin conjugated to fluorescent tags, which can be used for tracer studies in combination with anti-BSA antibodies. In addition, BSA fluorescent conjugates can be used in quantitative studies of electroporation, and also to measure plasma in rats.

BSA selection guide

ApplicationNameSizeFormPurificationCat. No.
Media bottle icon

Cell culture

Bovine Albumin Fraction V (7.5% solution)100 mLLiquid 15260037
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Cell culture

AlbuMAX I Lipid-Rich BSA25 gPowderChromatographical (IgG content ≤0.1%)11020021
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Cell culture

AlbuMAX I Lipid-Rich BSA1 kgPowderChromatographical (IgG content ≤0.1%)11020039
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Cell culture

AlbuMAX II Lipid-Rich BSA25 gPowderChromatographical (IgG content ≤1.0%)11021029
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Cell culture

AlbuMAX II Lipid-Rich BSA100 gPowderChromatographical (IgG content ≤1.0%)11021037
Media bottle icon

Cell culture

AlbuMAX II Lipid-Rich BSA1 kgPowderChromatographical (IgG content ≤1.0%)11021045
Antibody icon

Tracer studies
and immunoassays

Bovine Serum Albumin Polyclonal Antibody500 µLLiquidIgG fractionA11133
Labeled protein icon

Tracer studies

DNP-BSA (Albumin from Bovine Serum (BSA), 2,4-Dinitrophenylated)5 mgLyophilized powder A23018
Labeled protein icon

Tracer studies

Albumin from Bovine Serum (BSA), FITC conjugate5 mgLyophilized powder A23015
Labeled protein icon

Tracer studies

Albumin from Bovine Serum (BSA), Alexa Fluor 488 conjugate5 mgLyophilized powder A13100
Labeled protein icon

Tracer studies

Albumin from Bovine Serum (BSA), Tetramethylrhodamine conjugate5 mgLyophilized powder A23016
Labeled protein icon

Tracer studies

Albumin from Bovine Serum (BSA), Alexa Fluor 555 conjugate5 mgLyophilized powder A34786
Labeled protein icon

Tracer studies

Albumin from Bovine Serum (BSA), Texas Red conjugate5 mgLyophilized powder A23017
Labeled protein icon

Tracer studies

Albumin from Bovine Serum (BSA), Alexa Fluor 594 conjugate5 mgLyophilized powder A13101
Labeled protein icon

Tracer studies

Albumin from Bovine Serum (BSA), Alexa Fluor 647 conjugate5 mgLyophilized powder A34785
Labeled protein icon

Tracer studies

Albumin from Bovine Serum (BSA), Alexa Fluor 680 conjugate5 mgLyophilized powder A34787
DNA icon

Restriction enzyme
cloning, chromatin biology

Bovine Serum Albumin150 mgLiquid 15561020

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