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AAT Bioquest

What are the most common ionic detergents?

Posted July 30, 2021


Answer

The most common ionic detergents are Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate (SDS), Deoxycholate, Cholate, and Sarkosyl.

  • Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) - SDS is the most commonly used ionic detergent. It is very effective for disrupting non-covalent bonds within and between proteins, denaturing the proteins and changing their original conformation and function. SDS precipitates at low temperatures. The presence of potassium salts enhances this effect.
  • Sodium deoxycholate – Sodium deoxycholate is a bile salt anionic detergent. It is effective for denaturing proteins and is often used for membrane disruption and membrane protein extraction.
  • Sodium cholate - Sodium cholate is also a non-denaturing, bile salt detergent used for membrane disruption and membrane protein extraction.
  •  Sarkosyl – Sarkosyl is amphiphilic due to the presence of hydrophobic 14-carbon chain (lauroyl) and the hydrophilic carboxylate. Also known as sodium lauroyl sarcosinate, this ionic detergent is widely used in laboratory experiments because of its high foam stability, excellent water solubility, and strong sorption capacity to proteins.   
Additional resources

Designer Lipid-Like Peptides: A Class of Detergents for Studying Functional Olfactory Receptors Using Commercial Cell-Free Systems