Structural studies of integral membrane proteins in Salipro stealth carriers

Integral membrane proteins (IMPs) are potential targets for medical applications and are usually extracted with detergent for structural studies. However, SAXS and SANS studies of membrane proteins in detergent micelles are problematic due to the dominating contribution of detergent and empty micelles. Reconstitution of IMPs in Salipro nanoparticles can overcome these obstacles and allow a low-resolution structural analysis of membrane proteins in a detergent free environment. To fully contrast-match out the Salipro nanoparticles, we plan to incorporate our IMP targets in stealth carriers consisting of deuterated Saposin A proteins and lipids and perform a SANS experiment on SANS2D. This would allow a low-resolution structural characterisation of our IMPs of interest in a native-like lipid environment without the often-dominating scattering contribution of the lipid carrier system.