Lipid-containing Nanoparticles

About

Membrane-like structures, such as cell membranes and films, are found throughout biology, and commonly contain membrane proteins. Because such structures frequently govern transmembrane movement, membrane proteins are a key area of interest in drug discovery. While several processes are used for extracting proteins from membranes, these conventionally use aggressive surfactants. Such surfactants disrupt the chemistry and complex environment around a membrane protein of interest, and hinder the accurate modelling of a protein’s function and structure. We have developed a method of forming lipid-containing nanoparticles that replaces the conventional need for surfactants. The nanoparticle is a discoid formed of a membrane-forming polar lipid and a lipid-solubilising agent, which further includes a synthetic amphipathic polymer. The process for extracting membrane proteins involves exposing cells to the lipid-solubilising agent, and incubating the mixture until the membrane proteins are solubilised to form a nanoparticulate polymer-membrane protein complex. This complex is then separated from the remaining mixture. During incubation, a process of self-assembly occurs, involving the membranes and solubilising agent which, in effect, come to encapsulate the membrane proteins. This ensures the function and structure of the protein substantially corresponds to those in its native environment, so enabling accurate ex-vivo modelling and analysis of membrane protein systems.