Biophysical studies of membrane proteins/peptides. Interaction with ...
Biophysical studies of membrane proteins/peptides. Interaction with ...
Biophysical studies of membrane proteins/peptides. Interaction with ...
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INTRODUCTION: LIPID-PROTEIN INTERACTIONS<br />
2.LIPID-PROTEIN INTERACTIONS<br />
2.1. Membrane protein reconstitution<br />
Even for the simplest organisms, <strong>membrane</strong> <strong>proteins</strong> in protein-lipid extracts are<br />
present in a very complex and heterogeneous environment, which can impair the<br />
possibility <strong>of</strong> conducting biophysical <strong>studies</strong> that require a simpler matrix for the<br />
protein (<strong>with</strong> absence <strong>of</strong> possible contaminants), and more controlled conditions.<br />
However, integral <strong>membrane</strong> <strong>proteins</strong> generally cannot be studied in homogeneous<br />
systems such as aqueous or organic solutions due to the complex solubility problems<br />
derived from their bitopic nature. In addition, the study <strong>of</strong> their properties in a isotropic<br />
medium, would not be biologically relevant. Systems are required that satisfy both the<br />
hydrophobicity <strong>of</strong> the <strong>membrane</strong> embedded sections <strong>of</strong> the protein as well as their<br />
hydrophilic domains. Liposomes are frequently used for such <strong>studies</strong>, since, as<br />
discussed in the previous section, they present good mimetic conditions <strong>of</strong><br />
bio<strong>membrane</strong>s. Liposomes containing reconstituted <strong>proteins</strong> are called proteoliposomes.<br />
In order to reconstitute <strong>membrane</strong> <strong>proteins</strong> in liposomes it is first necessary to purify<br />
and solubilize them. Neither <strong>of</strong> these procedures is trivial and detergents have proven<br />
invaluable tools in both. They meet the requirements <strong>of</strong> amphipatic structure necessary<br />
to solubilize the two different environments present in <strong>membrane</strong> <strong>proteins</strong> and these are<br />
frequently soluble in micellar structures. Detergents are classified according to the<br />
charge <strong>of</strong> the headgroup as ionic (cationic or anionic), non-ionic or zwitterionic.<br />
Examples <strong>of</strong> ionic detergents <strong>of</strong>ten used in <strong>membrane</strong> solubilization are sodium<br />
dodecyl sulphate (SDS) and bile acid salts. SDS is a linear chain detergent and a<br />
extremely powerful solubilizing agent for <strong>membrane</strong> <strong>proteins</strong>, however, it is also<br />
frequently denaturing. Protein renaturation is eventually possible under certain<br />
conditions after transfer to other medium (Dong et al., 1997). Bile acid salts are ionic<br />
detergents <strong>with</strong> steroidal groups for backbones. Due to the planar characteristics <strong>of</strong> the<br />
steroidal structure, instead <strong>of</strong> a proper headgroup they present a polar and an apolar<br />
face. These detergents are much weaker than SDS and more efficient in maintaining<br />
protein activity. Examples <strong>of</strong> bile acid salts are sodium cholate and sodium<br />
deoxycholate. Non-ionic detergents are also mild and relatively non-denaturating/non-<br />
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