Abstract

Detergents are widely used in biochemistry labs. Classical applicationsinclude the lysis of cells and the removal of proteins and lipids (e.g.in nucleic acid purification). In protein biochemistry, detergents aremostly used to solubilize and purify membrane proteins.Special applications include the stabilization and the refolding ofmembrane proteins from a denatured state. The purpose of this reviewis to display the potential of such detergent-based methods, usingrecent examples from life science literature.As detergents are not always compatible with standard laboratorymethods, common problems are discussed.