avidin
Noun
Meaning
avidin (countable and uncountable, plural avidins)
(biology) A tetrameric protein produced in the oviducts of birds, reptiles and amphibians and deposited in the whites of their eggs.
Anagrams
Examples
Because both streptavidin and avidin bind biotin with high affinity (K d of 10 −14 mol/l to 10 −15 mol/l) and specificity, biotinylated proteins of interest can be isolated from a sample by exploiting this highly stable interaction.
To circumvent this problem, beads conjugated to monomeric avidin can be used, which has a decreased biotin-binding affinity of ~10 −8 mol/l, allowing the biotinylated protein of interest to be eluted with excess free biotin.