Controlling the shape of membrane protein polyhedra
Abstract
Membrane proteins and lipids can self-assemble into membrane protein polyhedral nanoparticles (MPPNs). MPPNs have a closed spherical surface and a polyhedral protein arrangement, and may offer a new route for structure determination of membrane proteins and targeted drug delivery. We develop here a general analytic model of how MPPN self-assembly depends on bilayer-protein interactions and lipid bilayer mechanical properties. We find that the bilayer-protein hydrophobic thickness mismatch is a key molecular control parameter for MPPN shape that can be used to bias MPPN self-assembly towards highly symmetric and uniform MPPN shapes. Our results suggest strategies for optimizing MPPN shape for structural studies of membrane proteins and targeted drug delivery.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1704.06225,
title = {Controlling the shape of membrane protein polyhedra},
author = {Di Li and Osman Kahraman and Christoph A. Haselwandter},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1704.06225},
year = {2017}
}