Guanidinium thiocyanate
Identifiers
CAS number	593-84-0
PubChem	65046
SMILES	C(#N)S.C(=N)(N)N
Properties
Molecular formula	C2H6N4S
Molar mass	118.16084
Hazards
MSDS	External MSDS
EU classification	Xn N
Except where noted otherwise, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C, 100 kPa)
Infobox references

Guanidinium thiocyanate (GITC) is a chemical compound that can be used to deactivate a virus, such as the influenza virus that caused the 1918 "Spanish flu" so that it can be studied safely. Note: this compound may also be recognized as guanidine thiocyanate. This is because guanidinium is the conjugate acid of guanidine and is called the guanidinium cation, [CH₆N₃]+.

As a chaotropic agent, it is also used as a general protein denaturant, which is presumably the mechanism for its aforementioned application in humans. The detailed chemistry of its protein denaturant activity is discussed in a fairly recent PNAS paper^[1].

Guanidinium thiocyanate is also used to lyse cells and virus particles in RNA and DNA extractions, where its function, in addition to its lysing action is to prevent activity of RNase enzymes and DNase enzymes by denaturing them. These enzymes would otherwise damage the extract.

A commonly used method is Guanidinium thiocyanate-phenol-chloroform extraction. It is not strictly necessary to use phenol or chloroform if extracting RNA for Northern blotting or DNA for Southern blot analysis because the gel electrophoresis followed by transfer to a membrane will separate the RNA/DNA from the proteins. Additionally, since these methods use probes to bind to their conjugates, peptides that get through the process don't generally matter unless a peptide is an RNase or DNase, and then only if the enzyme manages to renature, which should not occur if proper protocols are followed. A possible exception might be when working with temperature extremophiles because some enzymes of these organisms can remain stable under extraordinary circumstances^[2].

[edit] References

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1. ^ "The hydration structure of guanidinium and thiocyanate ions: Implications for protein stability in aqueous solution". http://www.pnas.org/content/100/8/4557.full. 
2. ^ "Properties and reaction mechanism of the bioluminescence system of the deep-sea shrimp Oplophorus gracilorostris.". http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/629957. 

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