Self-Assembly of Discoidal Phospholipid Bilayer Nanoparticles with Membrane Scaffold Proteins

Nanoparticulate phospholipid bilayer disks were assembled from phospholipid and a class of amphipathic helical proteins termed membrane scaffold proteins (MSP). Several different MSPs were produced in high yield using a synthetic gene and a heterologous expression system and purified to homogeneity by a one-step purification. The self-assembly process begins with a mixture of the phospholipid and MSP in the presence of a detergent. Upon removal of detergent, 10-nm diameter particles form containing either saturated or unsaturated phospholipid. The ratio of components in the initial mixture was found to be crucial for formation of a monodisperse population of nanoparticles. Exploration of the phase diagram of…

• UO
  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign