Sodium orthovanadate is the chemical compound Na₃VO₄ and contains the tetrahedral VO₄³⁻. It is an inhibitor

Enzyme inhibitor

An enzyme inhibitor is a molecule that binds to enzymes and decreases their activity. Since blocking an enzyme's activity can kill a pathogen or correct a metabolic imbalance, many drugs are enzyme inhibitors. They are also used as herbicides and pesticides...

 of protein tyrosine phosphatase

Protein tyrosine phosphatase

Protein tyrosine phosphatases are a group of enzymes that remove phosphate groups from phosphorylated tyrosine residues on proteins. Protein tyrosine phosphorylation is a common post-translational modification that can create novel recognition motifs for protein interactions and cellular...

s, alkaline phosphatase

Alkaline phosphatase

Alkaline phosphatase is a hydrolase enzyme responsible for removing phosphate groups from many types of molecules, including nucleotides, proteins, and alkaloids. The process of removing the phosphate group is called dephosphorylation...

s and a number of ATPase

ATPase

ATPases are a class of enzymes that catalyze the decomposition of adenosine triphosphate into adenosine diphosphate and a free phosphate ion. This dephosphorylation reaction releases energy, which the enzyme harnesses to drive other chemical reactions that would not otherwise occur...

s, most likely acting as a phosphate

Phosphate

A phosphate, an inorganic chemical, is a salt of phosphoric acid. In organic chemistry, a phosphate, or organophosphate, is an ester of phosphoric acid. Organic phosphates are important in biochemistry and biogeochemistry or ecology. Inorganic phosphates are mined to obtain phosphorus for use in...

 analogue. The VO₄^3- ion

Ion

An ion is an atom or molecule in which the total number of electrons is not equal to the total number of protons, giving it a net positive or negative electrical charge. The name was given by physicist Michael Faraday for the substances that allow a current to pass between electrodes in a...

 binds reversibly to the active sites of most protein tyrosine phosphatase

Protein tyrosine phosphatase

Protein tyrosine phosphatases are a group of enzymes that remove phosphate groups from phosphorylated tyrosine residues on proteins. Protein tyrosine phosphorylation is a common post-translational modification that can create novel recognition motifs for protein interactions and cellular...

s.

It is often added to buffer solution

Buffer solution

A buffer solution is an aqueous solution consisting of a mixture of a weak acid and its conjugate base or a weak base and its conjugate acid. It has the property that the pH of the solution changes very little when a small amount of strong acid or base is added to it. Buffer solutions are used as a...

s that are used in protein analysis in molecular biology

Molecular biology

Molecular biology is the branch of biology that deals with the molecular basis of biological activity. This field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry...

. The aim is to preserve the phosphorylation

Phosphorylation

Phosphorylation is the addition of a phosphate group to a protein or other organic molecule. Phosphorylation activates or deactivates many protein enzymes....

 of proteins of interest by inhibiting endogenous phosphatases present in cell lysate mixture. It is commonly used at a final working concentration

Concentration

In chemistry, concentration is defined as the abundance of a constituent divided by the total volume of a mixture. Four types can be distinguished: mass concentration, molar concentration, number concentration, and volume concentration...

 of 1 - 10 μM. It is toxic when inhaled, swallowed or in contact with skin.