A zwitterionic detergent containing a hydroxypropyl group between the hydrophobic heptylphenyl tail and the hydrophilic ammonio-propane sulfonate head. Useful for solubilizing and stabilizing integral membrane proteins by disrupting aggregates. Especially well-suited to protein extraction for proteomic applications.

Synonym: C7BzO; 3-(4-Heptyl)phenyl-3-hydroxypropyl-dimetylammonio-propane sulfonate;
3-(4-Heptyl)phenyl-3-hydroxypropyl-dimethylammonio-sulfobetaine

Molecular formula: C₂₁H₃₇NO₄S

Relative molecular mass (Mr): 399.6

Bibliography

Rabilloud, T. et al. (1999) Analysis of membrane proteins by two-dimensional electrophoresis: coparison of the proteins extracted from normal or Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocyte ghosts. Electrophoresis 20, 3603-10.

Luche, S. et al. (2003) Evaluation of nonionic and zwitterionic detergents as membrane    protein solubilizers in two-dimensional electrophoresis. Proteomics 3, 249-53.  

Tastet, C. et al. (2003) Structure-efficiency relationships of zwitterionic d etergents as protein  solubilizers in two-dimensional electrophoresis. Proteomics 3, 111.