Birmingham: new technique for stabilising membrane proteins

Research lead | Development opportunity

Researchers at Birmingham University have developed a new method for stabilising hard-to-handle membrane proteins that will make them more tractable as drug discovery targets.

The techniques uses nanoparticles to preserve membrane proteins intact, enabling detailed analysis of their structure and functions.

Michael Overduin, who led the research, said, “We have shown how a polymer can wrap around and preserve membrane proteins intact in stable nanoparticles.”  This preserves both their structure and activity, yet is robust enough to be handled experimentally.

Using the polymer styrene maleic acid lipid particles (SMALPs), the researchers have solubilised a pair of membrane proteins. Not only do the proteins maintain their folded structure, binding and enzyme activities in the SMALPs, but it also allows them to be easily handled for virtually any laboratory analysis.

SMALPs offer advantages over traditional ways of solubilising proteins using detergents, including enhanced stability, activity and spectral quality of the protein membranes.

The work was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.