Glycotripod Amphiphiles for Solubilization and Stabilization of a Membrane‐Protein Superassembly: Importance of Branching in the Hydrophilic Portion

• DOI: 10.1002/cbic.200800169
• Publication Date: 2008-06-24T14:33:46Z
• Authors: Pil S. Chae; Marc J. Wander; Aaron P. Bowling; Philip D. Laible; Samuel H. Gellman
• Keywords: Branching (polymer chemistry)

Intrinsic membrane proteins must usually be extracted from the native with aid of synthetic amphiphiles and then stabilized in a soluble form before detailed structural functional characterization is possible. We describe new unusual architectures that are useful for extraction stabilization photosynthetic protein superassemblies bacterial membranes. Our results suggest incorporating branch points both hydrophilic lipophilic portions can lead to favorable amphiphile behavior.