Get a variety of high-quality biodetergents from AG Scientific

Biological detergents are a class of molecules that can manipulate hydrophobic and hydrophilic interactions among molecules in a biological sample. Also referred to as biodetergents, these molecules are used for the study of membrane proteins due to their ability to lyse cells, solubilize membrane proteins and lipids, prevent nonspecific binding, and control protein crystallization.

AG Scientific supplies quality biodetergents that play a vital role in purifying, isolating, and solubilizing membrane proteins while still maintaining the protein's biological activity. Our biological detergents for life science research assist in many bioprocessing methods and applications, including electrophoresis, drug manufacturing, immunostaining, and DNA extraction.

Types of Biological Detergents

Biological detergents are amphipathic molecules and are classified by their head group, which includes ionic, non-ionic, and zwitterionic. Non-detergent Sulfobetaines (NDSB) are also zwitterionic compounds, but are much shorter in length than typical detergents, allowing them to solubilize proteins without denaturing them. AG Scientific provides a variety of high-quality biodetergents that fulfill each head group classification:

Ionic detergents, such as our anionic Dust-free SDS (Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate), are charged either negatively (anionic) or positively (cationic). Ionic detergents cause the complete disruption of cellular structure and cause the denaturation of proteins. Dust-free SDS is used to dissolve cell membranes and solubilize proteins and is primarily useful in the application of Gel Electrophoresis.

n-Octyl-β-D-Glucopyranoside (OG) is a non-ionic detergent intended for solubilizing membrane-bound proteins in their native state and for the preparation of lipid vesicles. It also has the advantage of being removed easily by dialysis. Nonionic biodetergents like OG are uncharged and most do not denature proteins as they impact the lipid-protein or lipid-lipid interactions.

Zwitterionic detergents have characteristics of both ionic and non-ionic detergent types. They contain equal positive and negative charges, therefore carrying a zero net charge. Zwitterionic biodetergents are less denaturing than ionic biodetergents but are slightly harsher surfactants than non-ionic biodetergents. CHAPS Zwitterionic is a popular AG Scientific product that is a non-denaturing surfactant derived from cholic acid. The primary use of CHAPS is in solubilization and purification of membrane proteins and other macromolecules. Zwitterionic biodetergents are useful for chromatography, mass spectrometry, and electrophoresis methods

Similar to zwitterionic detergents, non-detergent sulfobetaines (NDSB) can be used to efficiently disrupt protein bonds without denaturing the protein. While they are not detergents, they are useful in applications such as protein folding, renaturation, and crystallization.