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Practical Considerations of Membrane Protein Instability during Purification and Crystallisation

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Heterologous Expression of Membrane Proteins

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology™ ((MIMB,volume 601))

Abstract

Crystallisation of integral membranes requires milligrams of purified protein in a homogeneous, monodisperse state, and crucially, the membrane protein must also be fully functional and stable. The stability of membrane proteins in solution is dependent on the type of detergents used, but unfortunately the use of the most stabilising detergent can often decrease the probability of obtaining crystals that diffract to high resolution, especially of small membrane proteins. A number of strategies have been developed to facilitate the purification of membrane proteins in a functional form, which have led to new possibilities for structure determination.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK

    Christopher G. Tate

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  1. Christopher G. Tate
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Correspondence to Christopher G. Tate .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. CNRS - UMR 6543, Université Nice, parc Valrose, Nice CX 02, 06108, France

    Isabelle Mus-Veteau

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Tate, C.G. (2010). Practical Considerations of Membrane Protein Instability during Purification and Crystallisation. In: Mus-Veteau, I. (eds) Heterologous Expression of Membrane Proteins. Methods in Molecular Biology™, vol 601. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60761-344-2_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60761-344-2_12

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-60761-343-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-60761-344-2

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