Use of detergents to study membrane rafts: the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Eukaryotic cell membranes contain microdomains called lipid rafts, which are cholesterol-rich domains in which lipid acyl chains are tightly packed and highly extended. A variety of proteins associate preferentially with rafts, and this raft association is important in a wide range of functions. A powerful and widely-used method for studying lipid rafts takes advantage of their insolubility in non-ionic detergents. Here we describe the basis of detergent insolubility, and review strengths, limitations, and unresolved puzzles regarding this method.
D000818:Animals; D003902:Detergents; D006801:Humans; D021962:Membrane Microdomains / Q000737:chemistry*; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012995:Solubility
D003902:Detergents; D008565:Membrane Proteins