Enhancing protein solubilization with nondetergent sulfobetaines.

A significant increase in the yield of protein extraction by the addition of sulfobetaine-type mild solubilization agents is shown for microsomal membrane proteins and proteins from lyophilized platelets, with a maximum increase in yield of up to 100%. These agents are also applied to native isoelectric focusing in immobilized pH gradients. The absence of significant denaturation induced by these solubilizers is shown for creatine kinase.