Fluorinated surfactants are unable to extract proteins from membrane, but are useful for membrane protein stabilization in subsequent purification steps as they do not strip natural lipids and other co-factors from the proteins. In addition, the bulky fluorinated tails can not penetrate into the interior and disrupt structure. Fluorinated surfactants often decrease non-specific aggregation and are thought to result in improved distribution on cryo-EM grids and better vitrification for cryo-EM data collection. They are also reported to increase crystallizability.
Fluorinated surfactants are unable to extract proteins from membrane, but are useful for membrane protein stabilization in subsequent purification ste..