This Protocol is listed in the following Categories:
Biochemistry and protein analysis, Spectroscopy and structural analysis

Author(s): Heiko Heerklotz
Affiliation(s): Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto
DOI: 10.1038/nprot.2009.35

Monitoring detergent-mediated solubilization and reconstitution of lipid membranes by isothermal titration calorimetry

The solubilization and reconstitution of biological or liposomal membranes by detergents and biomolecules with detergent-like properties play a major role for technical applications (e.g., the isolation of membrane proteins) and biological phenomena (of, e.g., amphiphilic peptides). It is therefore important to know and understand the amounts of a given detergent required for the onset and completion of membrane solubilization and the detergent–lipid interactions in general. Lipid–detergent systems can form a variety of aggregate structures, which can be grouped into two pseudophases (lamellae and micelles) so that solubilization can be approximately described as a phase transition. Here we present a protocol for establishing the phase diagram and a detailed thermodynamic description of a lipid–detergent system based on isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). The protocol can also be used to detect additive-induced membrane destabilization, permeabilization, domain formation and lipid-dependent transitions between rod-like and spherical micelles. A minimal protocol consisting of all sample preparation procedures and a single solubilization experiment can be accomplished within 2 days; a more extensive series comprising both solubilization and reconstitution experiments requires several days to a few weeks, depending on the number of titrations performed.

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