Synthesis and preliminary biochemical assessment of ethyl-terminated perfluoroalkylamine oxide surfactants.
The synthesis and usefulness in membrane biochemistry of a new class of surfactants have been investigated. 1-Ethyl-2-dimethylamine oxide polar heads were grafted onto a hydrocarbon, a fluorocarbon or an ethyl-capped fluorocarbon hydrophobic tail. The ability of the resulting surfactants to extract and/or to stabilize in aqueous solution a test membrane protein, cytochrome b(6)f, was evaluated. While it is not a detergent, the hemifluorinated derivative efficiently kept purified cytochrome b(6)f soluble, native and functional. The data suggest that alkyl-capped fluorocarbon surfactants provide an interesting alternative to classical detergents for handling membrane proteins in aqueous solutions under non-dissociating conditions.
Chaudier
Yann
Y
Laboratoire de Chimie Bioorganique et des Systèmes Moléculaires Vectoriels, Faculté des Sciences, Université d'Avignon, 33 rue Louis Pasteur, F-84000 Avignon, France.
Zito
Francesca
F
Barthélémy
Philippe
P
Stroebel
David
D
Améduri
Bruno
B
Popot
Jean-Luc
JL
Pucci
Bernard
B
D003573:Cytochrome b Group / Q000378:metabolism; D045346:Cytochrome b6f Complex; D005466:Fluorocarbons / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000378:metabolism*; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000378:metabolism*
D003573:Cytochrome b Group; D005466:Fluorocarbons; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; D045346:Cytochrome b6f Complex