Copolymer/Lipid Nano-Assembly as Membrane Mimetic
July 1, 2021
Cartoon of DIBMA lipid nanodisc consisting of lipids (dark blue headgroups with light blue tails) and DIBMA (long yellow ribbon) superposed on the measured neutron scattering length density with red as higher intensity.
Scientific Achievement
Diisobutylene Maleic Acid Copolymer (DIBMA) is shown to co-assemble with lipid molecules into a nanodisc structure.
Significance and Impact
The DIBMA nanodisc can be completely contrast matched and is therefore an ideal membrane-mimetic substrate for studying the otherwise difficult to characterize integral membrane proteins that are involved in many important cellular processes.
Research Details
- DIBMA/lipid assembly structure was studied with contrast variation small angle neutron scattering.
- The newly developed DENSS algorithm was used to derive neutron scattering length density distribution and particle structure.
“Structure of Diisobutylene Maleic Acid Copolymer (DIBMA) and its Lipid Particle as A ‘Stealth’ Membrane Mimetic for Membrane Protein Research,”
Guo, Rong, Sumner, Jacob, Qian, Shuo,
ACS Applied Bio Materials 4 (6), 4760-4768, (2021).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsabm.0c01626
