Differential refractometric determination of binding of sodium dodecyl sulfate to protein using high-performance gel chromatography

When sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) is added to a high-performance gel chromatographic column equilibrated with a buffer solution containing SDS at a level above the critical micelle concentration, the surplus SDS migrates as micelles giving a sharp peak. The presence of an unfolded protein in the sample solution gives a polypeptide peak in advance of the SDS micelle peak. As the result of SDS binding to the polypeptide, the SDS micelle peak is attenuated in comparison to that in the absence of protein. Thus the amount of SDS bound to the polypeptide can be determined accurately and simply from the decrease in the area of the SDS micelle peak. This approach is particularly useful for precise determination of bound SDS, which is pertinent to understanding the state of the protein polypeptide-SDS complex under the conditions of SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.