Mechanisms of Cytochrome C Extraction by Reverse Micelles

The extraction of cytochrome C was carried out by means of phase transfer technique with three different reverse micellar systems, i.e., a CTAB micellar solution in n-butyl alcohol-chloroform(volume ratio 4∶1), an AOT micellar solution in isooctane and a SDSS-D2EHPA micellar solution in isooctane. The extraction mechanisms were studied. The results show that the extraction mechanisms for the same proteins with different types of reverse micellar systems can be distinct. The extraction of cytochrome C with CTAB and SDSS-D2EHPA reverse micellar systems are carried out according to the mechanism of electrostatic interaction. However, in the extraction of cytochrome C with the AOT reverse micellar system, the electrostatic interaction between the protein and the surfactant is not important.