Membrane Proteins

Membrane proteins make up between 20% and 30% of all expressed proteins. They are of great interest within the field of structural biology and pharmaceutical drug development, as they represent more than half of all present-day drug targets. Membrane proteins have hydrophobic exteriors, are relatively dynamic, and are produced at relatively low levels. Although these factors create difficulties in obtaining stable preparations for NMR analyses, phospholipids and detergents can be utilized to ensure proper solubilization and stability when studying membrane proteins. Despite the significant functional importance of membrane proteins, determining structures for these is much more challenging than for globular proteins. Fortunately, there are many sample preparation conditions that can be chosen for both solution and solid state NMR.

Eurisotop offers deuterated phospholipids and detergents manufactured by FB Reagents for NMR-based scientific research of membrane proteins.