Entrapment of biomembranes in mesoporous metal oxide gels has proven to be a challenge, as current and previous techniques utilize liposomes as biological membrane hosts. The instability of liposomes in mesoporous gels is attributed to their size and altered environment upon entrapment within the nanometer scale pores (5-50 nm). We have overcome these barriers by entrapping nanometer-scale lipid/protein assemblies - nanolipoprotein particles, bacteriorhodopsin (BR) purple membrane fragments, and copolymer-stabilized lipid nanodiscs. We have investigated the phase behavior of the lipids in addition to the structure, localization, and environmental polarity of the involved proteins mainly by spectroscopy methods. Our results indicate that near room temperature these gel-entrapped lipid/protein assemblies remain intact, with only slightly altered lipid and protein structure and dynamics. We then compare the thermal stability of gel-entrapped BR in purple membrane or lipid nanodiscs and find differences related to oligomeric states of the protein.

Lipid/protein nano-assemblies entrapped within mesoporous gels

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.