by Peter Nollert
April 27, 2010 17:00
Membrane protein crystallographers have become very creative in exploring materials that can serve as a matrix for membrane protein crystallization. A few years ago Salem Faham in the lab of James Bowie @ UCLA published a recipe to crystallize bacteriorhodopsin using bicelle preparations. Recently this method received some more attention in the GPCR crystallization field. As a consequence researchers are reading up on these 'old' papers to dig out the protocols for such exotic bicelle-based crystallizations.
Faham S., Bowie, J.
Bicelle Crystallization: A New Method for Crystallizing Membrane Proteins Yields a Monomeric Bacteriorhodopsin Structure
Journal of Molecular Biology, Volume 316 (1), 2002 , pp. 1-6(6)
Since I've dabbled in the 'lipid swamp' myself a little, people sometimes ask me for advice on this topic. The thing is I don't have anything new to contribute, other than having reproduced the bicelle crystallization in the lab. But I'm very happy to see that the FAQ (frequently asked questions) on bicelle based membrane protein crystallization at UCLA is still up.
A great example for openly sharing tips and important technical details that sometimes don't make it into a paper.
Fig: how to make a bicelle sandwich? Check out the FAQ.
Thanks Salem and James for keeping the FAQ site up and running!
Peter