A nanodisc is a synthetic model membrane system which assists in the study of membrane proteins. Nanodiscs are discoidal proteins in which a lipid bilayer is surrounded by molecules that are amphipathic molecules including proteins, peptides, and synthetic polymers. It is composed of a lipid bilayer of phospholipids with the hydrophobic edge screened by two amphipathic proteins. These proteins are called membrane scaffolding proteins (MSP) and align in double belt formation. Nanodiscs are structurally very similar to discoidal high-density lipoproteins (HDL) and the MSPs are modified versions of apolipoprotein A1 (apoA1), the main constituent in HDL. Nanodiscs are useful in the study of membrane proteins because they can solubilise and stabilise membrane proteins and represent a more native environment than liposomes, detergent micelles, bicelles and amphipols. Here you have an example where the scientists used a nanodisc system to solve the structure of a membrane transporter. This cryoEM data shows an open structure of a pentameric ligand-gated ion channel, depicting how phospholipids (sphere model) can interact with the membrane section of the channel, modulating its function (PDB code: 8D68)
#molecularart ... #immolecular ... #channel ... #nanodisc ... #gate ... #phospholipid ... #modulation ... #membrane ... #cryoem
Structure rendered with @proteinimaging and depicted with @corelphotopaint
#molecularart ... #immolecular ... #channel ... #nanodisc ... #gate ... #phospholipid ... #modulation ... #membrane ... #cryoem
Structure rendered with @proteinimaging and depicted with @corelphotopaint
