Cell-free expressed bacteriorhodopsin in different soluble membrane mimetics: biophysical properties and NMR accessibility.

ABSTRACT: Selecting a suitable membrane-mimicking environment is of fundamental importance for the investigation of membrane proteins. Nonconventional surfactants, such as amphipathic polymers (amphipols) and lipid bilayer nanodiscs, have been introduced as promising environments that may overcome intrinsic disadvantages of detergent micelle systems. However, structural insights into the effects of different environments on the embedded protein are limited. Here, we present a comparative study of the heptahelical membrane protein bacteriorhodopsin in detergent micelles, amphipols, and nanodiscs. Our results confirm that nonconventional environments can increase stability of functional bacteriorhodopsin, and demonstrate that well-folded heptahelical membrane proteins are, in principle, accessible by

SUBMITTER: Etzkorn M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3595385 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature