Lipid-protein interactions are an important determinant of the stability and function of integral and transmembrane proteins. In addition to local interactions at the lipid-protein interface, global interactions such as the distribution of internal lateral pressure may also influence protein conformation. It is shown here that the effects of the membrane lateral pressure profile on the conforma...

Energy conversion in biological systems is underpinned by membrane-bound proton transporters that generate and maintain a proton electrochemical gradient across the membrane which used, e.g. for generation of ATP by the ATP synthase. Here, we have co-reconstituted the proton pump cytochrome bo3 (ubiquinol oxidase) together with ATP synthase in liposomes and studied the effect of changing the li...

Interactions of membrane proteins with lipid molecules are central to their stability and function. We have used multiscale molecular dynamics simulations to determine the extent to which interactions with lipids are conserved across the aquaporin (Aqp) family of membrane proteins. Simulation-based assessment of the lipid interactions made by Aqps when embedded within a simple phospholipid bila...

Interactions between membrane proteins and lipids are often crucial for structure and function yet difficult to define because of their dynamic and heterogeneous nature. Here, we use mass spectrometry to demonstrate that membrane protein oligomers ejected from nanodiscs in the gas phase retain large numbers of lipid interactions. The complex mass spectra that result from gas-phase dissociation ...

The purple membrane is a two-dimensional crystalline lattice formed by bacteriorhodopsin and lipid molecules in the cytoplasmic membrane of Halobacterium salinarum. High-resolution structural studies, in conjunction with detailed knowledge of the lipid composition, make the purple membrane one of the best models for elucidating the forces that are responsible for the assembly and stability of i...

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is a powerful technique for monitoring the affinity and selectivity of biomolecular interactions. SPR allows for analysis of association and dissociation rate constants and modeling of biomolecular interaction kinetics, as well as for equilibrium binding analysis and ligand specificity studies. SPR has received much use and improved precision in classifying prote...

The interactions between membrane proteins and their lipid bilayer environment play important roles in the stability and function of such proteins. Extended (15-20 ns) molecular dynamics simulations have been used to explore the interactions of two membrane proteins with phosphatidylcholine bilayers. One protein (KcsA) is an alpha-helix bundle and embedded in a palmitoyl oleoyl phosphatidylchol...

There has been exponential growth in the number of membrane protein structures determined. Nevertheless, these structures are usually resolved in the absence of their lipid environment. Coarse-grained molecular dynamics (CGMD) simulations enable insertion of membrane proteins into explicit models of lipid bilayers. We have automated the CGMD methodology, enabling membrane protein structures to ...