Liquid-liquid phase separation of a surfactant-solubilized membrane protein

Phys Rev Lett. 2003 May 23;90(20):208101. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.208101. Epub 2003 May 19.

Abstract

Solubilization of membrane proteins requires surfactants, whose structural properties play a crucial role in determining the protein phase behavior. We show that ionization of a pH-sensitive surfactant, lauryldymethylamino-N-oxide, bound to the bacterial photosynthetic Reaction Center, induces protein phase segregation in micrometric "droplets." Liquid-liquid phase separation takes place in a narrow pH range, is promoted by increasing temperature, and vanishes by adding salt. After a fast initial droplet growth, the nearly arrested kinetics at a later stage leaves the system in a finely divided, long-lasting emulsified state.

MeSH terms

  • Dimethylamines / chemistry*
  • Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
  • Kinetics
  • Light
  • Membrane Proteins / chemistry*
  • Photosynthetic Reaction Center Complex Proteins / chemistry*
  • Rhodobacter sphaeroides / chemistry
  • Scattering, Radiation
  • Solubility
  • Surface-Active Agents / chemistry*

Substances

  • Dimethylamines
  • Membrane Proteins
  • Photosynthetic Reaction Center Complex Proteins
  • Surface-Active Agents
  • dodecyldimethylamine oxide