Engineered nanostructured β-sheet peptides protect membrane proteins.

Tao, Houchao; Lee, Sung Chang; Moeller, Arne; Roy, Rituparna Sinha; Siu, Fai Yiu; Zimmermann, Jörg; Stevens, Raymond C; Potter, Clinton S et al. · Nat Methods · 2013

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

We designed β-strand peptides that stabilize integral membrane proteins (IMPs). β-strand peptides self-assemble in solution as filaments and become restructured upon association with IMPs; resulting IMP-β-strand peptide complexes resisted aggregation when diluted in detergent-free buffer and were visible as stable, single particles with low detergent background in electron micrographs. β-strand peptides enabled clear visualization of flexible conformations in the highly dynamic ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter MsbA.

Medical subject headings