Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Curr Opin Struct Biol. 2010 Aug;20(4):471-9. doi: 10.1016/j.sbi.2010.05.006.
Integral membrane proteins play essential roles in many biological processes, such as energy transduction, transport of molecules, and signaling. The correct function of membrane proteins is likely to depend strongly on the chemical and physical properties of the membrane. However, membrane proteins are not accessible to many biophysical methods in their native cellular membrane. A major limitation for their functional and structural characterization is thus the requirement for an artificial environment that mimics the native membrane to preserve the integrity and stability of the membrane protein. Most commonly employed are detergent micelles, which can however be detrimental to membrane protein activity and stability. Here, we review recent developments for alternative, nonmicellar solubilization techniques, with a particular focus on their application to solution NMR studies. We discuss the use of amphipols and lipid bilayer systems, such as bicelles and nanolipoprotein particles (NLPs). The latter show great promise for structural studies in near native membranes.
整合膜蛋白在许多生物过程中发挥着重要作用，例如能量转导、分子运输和信号转导。膜蛋白的正确功能很可能强烈依赖于膜的化学和物理性质。然而，在其天然细胞膜中，许多生物物理方法无法接触到膜蛋白。因此，它们的功能和结构表征的主要限制是需要一种模拟天然膜的人工环境来保持膜蛋白的完整性和稳定性。最常用的是去污剂胶束，但它们可能对膜蛋白的活性和稳定性有害。在这里，我们综述了替代非胶束溶解技术的最新进展，特别关注它们在溶液 NMR 研究中的应用。我们讨论了使用 Amphipols 和脂质双层系统，如双脂体和纳米脂蛋白颗粒 (NLPs)。后者在近天然膜的结构研究中显示出巨大的潜力。
