Chiu M L, Nollert P, Loewen M C, Belrhali H, Pebay-Peyroula E, Rosenbusch J P, Landau E M
Department of Molecular Microbiology, Biozentrum, University of Basel, Switzerland.
Acta Crystallogr D Biol Crystallogr. 2000 Jun;56(Pt 6):781-4. doi: 10.1107/s0907444900004716.
Obtaining well ordered crystals of membrane proteins is the single most serious stumbling block in the pursuit of their high-resolution structures. The applicability of lipidic cubic phase-mediated crystallization is demonstrated on a diverse set of bacterial membrane proteins: two photosynthetic reaction centres, a light-harvesting complex and two retinal proteins, halorhodopsin and bacteriorhodopsin. Despite marked differences in molecular dimensions, subunit composition and membrane origin, one single lipid, monoolein, is sufficient to form a crystallization matrix for all the aforementioned systems. Therefore, the lipidic cubic phase approach is proposed as a general method for crystallizing membrane proteins.
获得有序排列的膜蛋白晶体是解析其高分辨率结构过程中最严重的绊脚石。脂质立方相介导的结晶方法在多种细菌膜蛋白上得到了验证：两种光合反应中心、一种捕光复合物以及两种视黄醛蛋白，即嗜盐菌视紫红质和细菌视紫红质。尽管这些蛋白在分子尺寸、亚基组成和膜来源上存在显著差异，但单一的脂质——单油酸甘油酯，就足以形成适用于上述所有体系的结晶基质。因此，脂质立方相方法被提议作为一种通用的膜蛋白结晶方法。
