Houchao Tao, Sung Chang Lee, Arne Moeller, Rituparna Sinha Roy, Fai Yiu Siu, Jörg Zimmermann, Raymond C Stevens, Clinton S Potter, Bridget Carragher & Qinghai Zhang
We designed β-strand peptides that stabilize integral membrane proteins (IMPs). β-strand peptides self-assemble in solution as filaments and become restructured upon association with IMPs; resulting IMP–β-strand peptide complexes resisted aggregation when diluted in detergent-free buffer and were visible as stable, single particles with low detergent background in electron micrographs. β-strand peptides enabled clear visualization of flexible conformations in the highly dynamic ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter MsbA.
DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.2533
PMID: 23817067