Rashmi,
What you ask is impossible to answer because you have not given us any details. Sodium sarcosyl (or sarcosine) is a very problematic, but useful detergent. For some proteins, it is an effective denaturant (hence the denaturing/refolding protocols in the literature); for others, it is a mild detergent. It crystallizes in the cold and in potassium containing buffers. It can also be a pain to get rid of, particularly by dialysis (due to its charged nature).
We have used it routinely for the extraction of some membrane proteins, but realize that it may not be the best detergent for purification. Hence, we often extract with sarcosyl (or a sarcosyl mixture with a milder detergent like dodecyl maltoside), then do all of the purification in a milder detergent (again, like dodecyl maltoside). But do not assume it keeps the native state of your protein. Our general experience is that as a detergent for extraction, sarcosyl is OK, perhaps because our target membrane protein is still stabilized by the solubilized native lipid. If you can get lithium sarcosyl, it may work even better. Nonetheless, always have some sort of assay for nativeness.
Regards,
Michael
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R. Michael Garavito, Ph.D.
Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1319
Office: (517) 355-9724 Lab: (517) 353-9125
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On Sep 20, 2012, at 8:29 AM, Rashmi Panigrahi wrote:
Thanks Zhijie,
So do you mean to say that your lab regularly uses it in Lysis and refolding buffers, and the protein/s purified are structurally and functionally fine and that there is no aggregation caused due to sarkosyl??
kind regards
Rashmi
On Thu, Sep 20, 2012 at 6:23 PM, Zhijie Li
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Hi,
We used it in some lysis/refolding
buffers.
Sigma marked this biodegradable detergent
as "Highly toxic by inhalation" - when it's used in toothpastes and
shampoos if I am not mistaken. when I called, Sigma said that since
someone published a paper saying that when they sprayed it into a rat's nose the
rat died, they had no choice but to put a skull sign on the MSDS.
Zhijie
Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2012 5:47 AM
Subject: [ccp4bb] sarkosyl
Hi All,
I was wondering if anyone has used N-lauryl sarcosine
in the lysis buffer for purifying protein and checked if the protein was
functional or structurally okay
Please let me know
kind
regards
--
rashmi
--
rashmi
