Functional solubilization of the β 2-adrenoceptor using diisobutylene maleic acid

C.R. Harwood, D.A. Sykes, B. Hoare, F.M. Heydenreich, R. Uddin, D.R. Poyner, S.J. Briddon*, D.B. Veprintsev*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The β2-adrenoceptor (β2AR) is a well-established target in asthma and a prototypical G protein-coupled receptor for biophysical studies. Solubilization of membrane proteins has classically involved the use of detergents. However, the detergent environment differs from the native membrane environment and often destabilizes membrane proteins. Use of amphiphilic copolymers is a promising strategy to solubilize membrane proteins within their native lipid environment in the complete absence of detergents. Here we show the isolation of the β 2AR in the polymer diisobutylene maleic acid (DIBMA). We demonstrate that β 2AR remains functional in the DIBMA lipid particle and shows improved thermal stability compared with the n-dodecyl-β-D-maltopyranoside detergent-solubilized β 2AR. This unique method of extracting β 2AR offers significant advantages over previous methods routinely employed such as the introduction of thermostabilizing mutations and the use of detergents, particularly for functional biophysical studies.

Original languageEnglish
Article number103362
JournaliScience
Volume24
Issue number12
Early online date28 Oct 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 17 Dec 2021

Bibliographical note

© 2021 The Authors. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).


Funding: C.R.H. was funded by a Medical Research Council (MRC) IMPACT PhD studentship.

Keywords

  • Biophysical chemistry
  • Membranes
  • Protein

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