The studies on KvAP in the Jiang lab have obtained significant help from Dr. Roderick MacKinnon's laboratory at the Rockefeller University. Special thanks go to Dr. Kathlynn Brown and Michael McQuire for their advice and help on our phage-screen experiments. This work was supported by grants from NIH (GM088745 and GM093271 to Q-XJ) and AHA (12IRG9400019 to Q-XJ).

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The authors have nothing to disclose.

The reconstitution of the KvAP channels into different membranes has been used in several studies 8-10. Following the idea of ensuring the distribution of lipids between detergent/lipid mixed micelles and the protein/detergent/lipid mixed micelles, we are able to reach nearly complete reconstitution of the KvAP into membranes made of very different lipids. Each tetrameric KvAP channel needs ~100 lipid molecules to fully cover its transmembrane domain. The essential requirement is to allow enough lipid molecule...

Cells exchange materials and information with their environment through the functions of specific membrane proteins 1. Membrane proteins in cell membranes function as pumps, channels, receptors, intramembrane enzymes, linkers and structural supporters across membranes. Mutations that affect the membrane proteins have been related to many human diseases. In fact, many membrane proteins have been the primary drug targets because they are important and easily accessible in cell membranes. It is therefore very important to understand the structure and function of various membrane proteins in membranes, and make it possible to devise novel methods to alleviate the detrimental effects from the mutant proteins in human diseases.
Lipids surround all membrane proteins integrated in bilayers 2, 3. In eukaryotic membranes, the various different types of lipids are known to be organized into microdomains 4, 5. Many membrane proteins were shown to be distributed among these microdomains as well as the bulky fluid phase of membranes 3, 6. The mechanism underlying the organization of the microdomains and the delivery of membrane proteins into them and the physiological significance of such distributions are clearly important but remain poorly understood. One major technical difficulty in studying the lipid effects on membrane proteins is the reliable reconstitution of biochemically purified membrane proteins into membranes of well-controlled lipid composition so that almost all reconstituted proteins are functional 7. In the past few years, we developed methods to reconstitute the prototype voltage-gated potassium channel from A. pernix (KvAP) into various membrane systems for structural and functional studies 8-10. The data from others and us together showed that the lipids are likely a determinant in the conformational changes of the voltage-sensing domains of a voltage-gated ion channel and may shape the structures of some of these channels 11. In the next, we will provide a detailed description of our methods and will offer critical technical tips that will likely ensure the successful reproduction of our results as well as the extension of our methods to the studies of other membrane proteins.

<table border="1">
 <tbody>
 <tr>
 <td>Name of Reagent/Material</td>
 <td>Company</td>
 <td>Catalog Number</td>
 <td>Comments</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>Tryptone</td>
 <td>RPI Corp.</td>
 <td>T60060</td>
 <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>Yeast Extract</td>
 <td>RPI Corp.</td>
 <td>Y20020</td>
 <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>NaCl</td>
 <td>Fisher</td>
 <td>S271-3</td>
 <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>Tris Base</td>
 <td>RPI Corp.</td>
 <td>T60040</td>
 <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>Potassium Chloride</td>
 <td>Fisher</td>
 <td>BP366-500</td>
 <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>n-Dodecyl-&beta;-D-Maltoside</td>
 <td>Affymetrix</td>
 <td>D322S</td>
 <td>Sol-grade</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>n-Octyl-&beta;-D-Glucoside </td>
 <td>Affymetrix</td>
 <td>O311</td>
 <td>Ana-grade</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>Aprotinin</td>
 <td>RPI Corp.</td>
 <td>A20550-0.05</td>
 <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>Leupeptin</td>
 <td>RPI Corp.</td>
 <td>L22035-0.025</td>
 <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>Pepstatin A</td>
 <td>RPI Corp.</td>
 <td>P30100-0.025</td>
 <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>PMSF</td>
 <td>SIGMA</td>
 <td>P7626</td>
 <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>Dnase I</td>
 <td>Roche</td>
 <td>13407000</td>
 <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>Bio-Bead SM-2</td>
 <td>Bio-Rad</td>
 <td>152-3920</td>
 <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>HEPES</td>
 <td>RPI Corp.</td>
 <td>H75030</td>
 <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>POPE</td>
 <td>Avanti Polar Lipids</td>
 <td>850757C</td>
 <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>POPG</td>
 <td>Avanti Polar Lipids</td>
 <td>840457C</td>
 <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>DOGS</td>
 <td>Avanti Polar Lipids</td>
 <td>870314C</td>
 <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>DMPC </td>
 <td>Avanti Polar Lipids</td>
 <td>850345C</td>
 <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>Biotin-DOPE </td>
 <td>Avanti Polar Lipids</td>
 <td>870282C</td>
 <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>DOTAP</td>
 <td>Avanti Polar Lipids</td>
 <td>890890C</td>
 <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>NeutrAvidin agarose beads </td>
 <td>Piercenet</td>
 <td>29200</td>
 <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>Dialysis Tubing</td>
 <td>Spectrum Laboratories, Inc</td>
 <td>132-570</td>
 <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>Pentane</td>
 <td>Fisher</td>
 <td>R399-1</td>
 <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>Decane</td>
 <td>TCI America</td>
 <td>D0011</td>
 <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>MTS-PEG5000</td>
 <td>Toronto Research Cemicals</td>
 <td>M266501</td>
 <td></td>
 </tr>
 </tbody>
</table>

reconstitution of a kv channel into lipid membranes for structural and functional studies

To study the lipid-protein interaction in a reductionistic fashion, it is necessary to incorporate the membrane proteins into membranes of well-defined lipid composition. We are studying the lipid-dependent gating effects in a prototype voltage-gated potassium (Kv) channel, and have worked out detailed procedures to reconstitute the channels into different membrane systems. Our reconstitution procedures take consideration of both detergent-induced fusion of vesicles and the fusion of protein/detergent micelles with the lipid/detergent mixed micelles as well as the importance of reaching an equilibrium distribution of lipids among the protein/detergent/lipid and the detergent/lipid mixed micelles. Our data suggested that the insertion of the channels in the lipid vesicles is relatively random in orientations, and the reconstitution efficiency is so high that no detectable protein aggregates were seen in fractionation experiments. We have utilized the reconstituted channels to determine the conformational states of the channels in different lipids, record electrical activities of a small number of channels incorporated in planar lipid bilayers, screen for conformation-specific ligands from a phage-displayed peptide library, and support the growth of 2D crystals of the channels in membranes. The reconstitution procedures described here may be adapted for studying other membrane proteins in lipid bilayers, especially for the investigation of the lipid effects on the eukaryotic voltage-gated ion channels.

The general flow of the experiments for purifying the KvAP channel into biochemical homogeneity is described in Figure 1A. Typical samples during the expression and purification of the protein is showed in the SDS-PAGE gel in Figure 1B. The protein after the IMAC purification is relatively pure. The yield of the KvAP channel is about 1.0 mg/Liter culture.
Solubilization of lipid vesicles with detergents needs to be worked out for each pair of lipid vs. deterge...

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Reconstitution of a Kv Channel into Lipid Membranes for Structural and Functional Studies

Procedures for complete reconstitution of a prototype voltage-gated potassium channel into lipid membranes are described. The reconstituted channels are suitable for biochemical assays, electrical recordings, ligand screening and electron crystallographic studies. These methods may have general applications to the structural and functional studies of other membrane proteins.

To study the lipid-protein interaction in a reductionistic fashion, it is necessary to incorporate the membrane proteins into membranes of well-defined ...

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19.3K Views.  University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. Procedures for complete reconstitution of a prototype voltage-gated potassium channel into lipid membranes are described. The reconstituted channels are suitable for biochemical assays, electrical recordings, ligand screening and electron crystallographic studies. These methods may have general applications to the structural and functional studies of other membrane proteins.