Nanoscale Membrane Mimetics for Biophysical Studies of Membrane Proteins

A large fraction of biological activity, from transport to signaling, takes place at the interface between cells and their surroundings. In particular, the cell membrane hosts a large number of proteins that are responsible for this physiological activity. These proteins are major drug targets and have been the focus of extensive research over the years. Typically, they have hydrophilic domains that reside in the aqueous environment within or outside a cell, as well as hydrophobic regions within the bilayer that anchor them to the cell membrane but also make them difficult to express and purify. Methods effective for aqueous soluble proteins often result in aggregation and denaturation when applied to those that reside within the membrane. This difficulty has resulted in the development of various membrane mimetic techniques that strive to incorporate membrane proteins into lipid environments to maintain the folding and function of the target protein while still producing a robust and simple system.