Tween 80 is a polyethylene sorbitol ester containing approximately 20 units of ethylene oxide per unit of sorbitol.  The fatty acid composition is heterogeneous with oleic acid as major component (min. 58 %).

Tween 80 is used as an additive for cell culture media. It has numerous effects, e.g. increasing the transformation frequency of Brevibacterium lactofermentum or enhancing the secretion of acid and alkaline phosphatase by Neurospora crassa.

This detergent can be used with particular effect in the biotechnological preparation of microbial enzymes. Tween 80 increases the microbial formation of enzymes like cellulose, ligninase and linamarase significantly.

Tween 80 is a potential solubilizer for relevant pharmaceutical substances like temazepam and allopurinol. It is furthermore frequently used for inactivation of lipd containing viruses.

Tween 80 has also proved useful in the stabilization of the cAMP-dependent protein kinase.

Tween 80  is a registered  trademark of the CRODA International Plc.

Synonyms: Polysorbate 80, Montanox 80, PEG (20) sorbitan monooleate

CAS registry number: [9005-65-6]

Relative molecular mass (Mr): ca. 1300

Classification: Non-ionic surfactant

Literature specifications:
•    Critical micellar concentration (CMC): 0.01 mM
•    Cloud point (cp): 65 °C (3 % in 1 N NaCl solution)
•    Partial specific volume: 0.896 cm3/g
•    Viscosity: ca. 400 mPa.s (25 °C)
•    Hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB): 15.0

Bibliography

Cell Culture Techniques

Baykusheva, S., Ilieva, K. (1988) Sporulation and extracellular alkaline protease activity of Bacillus subtilis 168 grown in the presence of Tween. Biotekhnol. Biotekh., (4), 22-24.

Chevalier, J., Pommier, M.T., Cremieux, A., Michel, G. (1988) Influence of Tween 80 on the .mycolic acid composition of three cutaneous corynebacteria. J. Gen. Mikrobiol. 134, 2457-2461.

Hatakka, A. (1988) Production of ligninases by Phlebia radiata. VTT Symp. 88 (Bioconvers. Plant Raw Mater. Microorg.), 85-95.

Hung, B.R., Lara, L., Patron, M.A., Ugarova, N.N., Bechstedt, W., Clappers, S. (1988) Tween 80 and proteose peptone effect on cellulase pro¬duction. Acta Biotechnol. 8, 461-4.

Abalaka, J. A., Garba, S. A. (1989) Influence of media composition on linamarase production by some fungi. Agric. Biol. Chem. 53, 561-563.

Haynes, J.A., Britz, M.L. (1989) Electrotransfor¬mation of Brevibacterium lactofermentum and Corynebacterium glutamicum: growth in Tween 80 increases transformation fre
quencies. FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 61, 329-33.

Nahas, E., Carlos de Assis, L., Zanon, J.C. (1989) Elution of repressible acid and alkaline phosphatases from Neurospora crassa by detergents and salts. Rev. Microbiol. 20, 452-9.

Sato, M., Tsuchiya, H., Kato, M., Yamamoto, K., Nakazato, G., Takagi, N., Namikawa, I. (1989) Effects of Tween 80 and sodium fluoride on extracellular glucosyltransferase production and membrane lipids of Streptococcus mutans. Int. J. Biochem. 21, 751-54.

Sukan, S.S., Guray, A., Vardar-Sukan, F. (1989) Effects of natural oils and surfactants on cellulase production and activity. J. Chem. Technol. Biotechnol. 46, 179-87.

Masaki, S., Sugimori, G., Okamoto, A., Imose, J., Hayashi, Y. (1990) Effect of Tween 80 on the growth of Mycobacterium avium complex. Microbiol. Immunol. 34, 653-663.

Tsujino, I. et al. (1999) Effect of Tween 80 on cell killing by etopside in human lung adenocarcinoma cells. Cancer Chemother. Pharmacol. 43, 29-34.

O`Sullivan, S.M. et al.- (2004) Use of Tween 40 and Tween 80 to deliver a mixture of phytochemicals to human colonic adenocarcinoma cell (CaCo-2) monolayers. Brit. J. Nutr. 91, 757-64.

Characterization of Enzymes

Okuno, S., Fulisawa, H. (1990) Stabilization, purification and crystallization of catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase from bovine heart. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1038, 204-8.

Boeman, M.H. a. Napoli, J.L. (1995) Effects of sulfhydryl reagents, retinoids, and solubilization on the activity of microsomal retinol dehydrogenase. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 321, 434-41.

Pharmaceutical Applications

Horowitz, B. et al. (1985) Inactivation of viruses in labile blood derivatives. I. Disruption of lipid-enveloped viruses by tri(n-butyl)phosphate detergent combinations. Transfusion 25, 516-22.

Mulley, B.A., Aboutaleb, A.E., Abdel Rahman, A..A. a. Ahmed, S.M. (1988) Interaction of tema¬zepam with certain macromolecules: V. Thermodynamics of temazepam solubilization. Bull. Pharm. Sci., Assiut Univ. 11, 70-87.

Hamza, Y.E., Kata, M. (1989) Influence of certain nonionic surfactants on the solubilization and in-vitro availability of allopurinol. Pharm. Ind. 51, 1441-4.

Plaza, CI., De la Rosa, M.C., Garcia Arribas, M.L. a. Mosso, M.A. (1989) Influence of diluent on the detection of microorganisms in topical drugs. An. R. Acad. Farm. 55, 237-44.

Hariharan, K. et al. (1995) The induction of cytotoxic T cells and tumor regression by soluble antigen formulation. Cancer Res. 55, 3486-9.

Katakam, M. et al. (1995) Effect of surfactants on the physical stability of recombinant human growth hormone. J. Pharm. Sci. 84, 713-6.

Liu, F. a. Liu, D. (1995) Long-circulating emulsions (oil-in-water) as carriers for lipophilic drugs. Pharm. Res. 12, 1060-4.

Seitz, H. et al. (2002) Comparable virus inactivation by bovine or vegetable derived Tween 80 during solvent/detergent treatment. Biologicals 30, 197-205.

Further Applications

Stutzenberger, F.J. (1992) Interference of the detergent Tween 80 in protein assays. Anal. Biochem. 207, 249-54.

Neu, T.R. (1996) Significance of bacterial surface-active compounds in interaction of bacteria with interfaces. Microbiol. Reviews, March 1996, 151-66.

Amos, B.K. et al. (2007) Effects of the nonionic surfactant Tween 80 on microbial reductive dechlorination of chlorinated ethens. Environ. Sci. Technol. 41, 1710-16.