Summary Although membrane shape varies greatly throughout the cell, the contribution of membrane curvature to transmembrane protein targeting is unknown due to the numerous sorting mechanisms taking place concurrently in cells. To isolate the effect of membrane shape, cellsized Giant Unilamellar Vesicles (GUVs) containing either the potassium channel, KvAP, or water channel, AQP0, were used to form membrane nanotubes with controlled radii. While the AQP0 concentrations in flat and curved membranes were indistinguishable, KvAP was enriched in the tubes, with greater enrichment in more highly curved membranes. FRAP measurements showed that both proteins could freely diffuse through the neck between the tube and GUV, and the effect of each protein on membrane shape and stiffness was characterized using a thermodynamic sorting model. This study establishes the importance of membrane shape for targeting transmembrane proteins, and provides a method for determining the effective shape and flexibility of membrane proteins.

Solubilization of integral membrane proteins in aqueous solutions requires the presence of amphiphilic molecules like detergents. The transmembrane region of the proteins is then surrounded by a corona formed by these molecules, ensuring a hydrophilic outer surface. The presence of this corona has strongly hampered structural studies of solubilized membrane proteins by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), a technique frequently used to monitor conformational changes of soluble proteins. Through the online combination of size exclusion chromatography, SAXS, and refractometry, we have determined a precise geometrical model of the n-dodecyl β-d-maltopyranoside corona surrounding aquaporin-0, the most abundant membrane protein of the eye lens. The SAXS data were well-fitted by a detergent corona shaped in an elliptical toroid around the crystal structure of the protein, similar to the elliptical shape recently reported for nanodiscs (Skar-Gislinge et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2010, 132, 13713-13722). The torus thickness determined from the curve-fitting protocol is in excellent agreement with the thickness of a lipid bilayer, while the number of detergent molecules deduced from the volume of the torus compares well with those obtained on the same sample from refractometry and mass analysis based on SAXS forward scattering. For the first time, the partial specific volume of the detergent surrounding a protein was measured. The present protocol is a crucial step toward future conformational studies of membrane proteins in solution.