Detergents as tools for the purification and classification of lipid rafts.
The relative insolubility of lipid rafts in cold non-ionic detergents is the most widely used method to purify these fascinating membrane domains from intact cells or membranes. Most of what we know about lipid raft function has been derived from experiments utilising detergent insolubility as the basis for raft purification. Recently, a wider range of detergents have been used to purify 'rafts', and rafts have been subclassified based on their differential solubility in different detergents. This minireview critically examines the use of detergents as tools for raft isolation and for the subclassification of rafts.
Sir Henry Wellcome Laboratory of Cell Biology, Division of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Glasgow, UK. l.chamberlain@bio.gla.ac.uk
Luke H
LH
Chamberlain
D003902:Detergents / Q000737:chemistry*; D021962:Membrane Microdomains / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification*; D017830:Octoxynol; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D012995:Solubility
D003902:Detergents; C017474:Lubrol WX; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D017830:Octoxynol