Eur. Phys. J. E (2013) 36: 71
https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2013-13071-6

Regular Article

Small angle neutron scattering for the study of solubilised membrane proteins

¹⁹⁸⁸⁹ Institut de Biologie Structurale (IBS), Univ. Grenoble Alpes, F-38027, Grenoble, France
²⁹⁸⁸⁹ CEA, DSV, IBS, F-38027, Grenoble, France
³⁹⁸⁸⁹ CNRS, IBS, F-38027, Grenoble, France
⁴⁹⁸⁸⁹ Equipe Chimie Bioorganique et Systèmes Amphiphiles, Université d’Avignon et des Pays de Vaucluse, Avignon, France
⁵⁹⁸⁸⁹ Institut des Biomolécules Max Mousseron, UMR 5247 CNRS-Universités Montpellier 1 & 2, F-34095, Montpellier, France
⁶⁹⁸⁸⁹ Institute Max Von Laue Paul Langevin, F-38042, Grenoble 9, France
⁷⁹⁸⁸⁹ Partnership for Structural Biology, ILL EMBL Deuteration Lab, F-38042, Grenoble 9, France

^* e-mail: christine.ebel@ibs.fr

Received: 20 December 2012
Revised: 22 April 2013
Accepted: 16 May 2013
Published online: 16 July 2013

Abstract

Small angle neutron scattering (SANS) is a powerful technique for investigating association states and conformational changes of biological macromolecules in solution. SANS is of particular interest for the study of the multi-component systems, as membrane protein complexes, for which in vitro characterisation and structure determination are often difficult. This article details the important physical properties of surfactants in view of small angle neutron scattering studies and the interest to deuterate membrane proteins for contrast variation studies. We present strategies for the production of deuterated membrane proteins and methods for quality control. We then review some studies on membrane proteins, and focus on the strategies to overcome the intrinsic difficulty to eliminate homogeneously the detergent or surfactant signal for solubilised membrane proteins, or that of lipids for membrane proteins inserted in liposomes.