It is suitable for personal care, cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications. It is used widely to reverse the anticoagulant effects of heparin. It acts as a heparin antagonist. It is also a weak anticoagulant. It may be used for the removal of DNA from protein samples or the purification of DNA binding proteins. Protamine sulfate may also be used as an alternative to polybrene in retroviral mediated gene transfer. Protamine sulfate has antibacterial properties and inhibits pepsin activity. Protamine sulfate and other polycations have been shown to inhibit the classical pathway of complement. It neutralizes the anticoagulant activity of heparin, and inhibits turnover of lipoproteins by lipoprotein lipase. The aggregation of erythrocytes in the presence of protamine sulfate, for application to the prediction of MN phenotypes, has been investigated.
