In-situ NMR studies of membrane proteins

Speaker: Professor Marc Baldus, Utrecht University

Host: Professor Birthe Brandt Kragelund, Section for Biomolecular Sciences

Abstract
Increasing evidence suggests that most proteins occur and function in complexes rather than as isolated entities when embedded in cellular membranes. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) provides increasing possibilities to study structure, dynamics and assembly of such systems. We report on recent methodological progress to examine membrane proteins and their complexes in membrane mimetics, lipid bilayers and native cellular settings by NMR. Applications include ion channels, the 200kDa β-barrel assembly machinery complex BAM and members of the Her family that mediate cell signalling in eukaryotic membranes. These examples demonstrate the growing potential of NMR-based studies to provide critical insight into the energetics of protein-ligand and protein-protein interactions that underlie the basis for essential biological functions in cellular membranes.