Publications by authors named "Zoe Stroud"
Most membrane proteins function through interactions with other proteins in the phospholipid bilayer, the cytosol or the extracellular milieu. Understanding the molecular basis of these interactions is key to understanding membrane protein function and dysfunction. Here we demonstrate for the first time how a nano-encapsulation method based on styrene maleic acid lipid particles (SMALPs) can be used in combination with native gel electrophoresis to separate membrane protein complexes in their native state.
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- Biological characterisation of membrane proteins is challenging due to traditional methods losing essential lipids during extraction, which affects protein structure and function.
- Styrene maleic acid (SMA) copolymers provide a detergent-free alternative for isolating membrane proteins while preserving their surrounding lipids, creating SMA-lipid particles (SMALPs).
- A new LC-MS/MS method was developed to analyze bacterial phospholipids, revealing distinct lipid profiles associated with different membrane proteins, indicating specific lipid-protein interactions.
Membrane proteins remain a somewhat enigmatic group of biomolecules. On the one hand they mediate some of the most important processes in biology with molecular mechanisms that are often elegantly complex. On the other hand they are exceptionally challenging to produce, making studies of membrane protein structure and function among the most difficult projects undertaken by biochemists.
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