Membrane protein stabilization strategies for structural and functional studies

Accounting for nearly two-thirds of known druggable targets, membrane proteins are highly relevant for cell physiology and pharmacology. In this regard, the structural determination of pharmacologically relevant targets would facilitate the intelligent design of new drugs. The structural biology of...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Errasti-Murugarren, Ekaitz, Bartoccioni, Paola, Palacín Prieto, Manuel
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2021
Country:España
Institution:Universidad de Barcelona
Repository:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
OAI Identifier:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/191295
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/191295
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Proteïnes de membrana
Mutagènesi
Detergents
Lípids
Membrane proteins
Mutagenesis
Lipids
Description
Summary:Accounting for nearly two-thirds of known druggable targets, membrane proteins are highly relevant for cell physiology and pharmacology. In this regard, the structural determination of pharmacologically relevant targets would facilitate the intelligent design of new drugs. The structural biology of membrane proteins is a field experiencing significant growth as a result of the development of new strategies for structure determination. However, membrane protein preparation for structural studies continues to be a limiting step in many cases due to the inherent instability of these molecules in non-native membrane environments. This review describes the approaches that have been developed to improve membrane protein stability. Membrane protein mutagenesis, detergent selection, lipid membrane mimics, antibodies, and ligands are described in this review as approaches to facilitate the production of purified and stable membrane proteins of interest for structural and functional studies.