Background:Investigating the mechanism of NADPH-dependent conformational changes of POR in nanodiscs. Results:The conformational equilibrium of compact and extended POR, shifts toward the compact form (from 30 to 60%) upon reduction by NADPH. Conclusion:The NADPH-dependent conformational changes follow the "swinging model." Significance: This is the first time that the action of a membrane protein located in a lipid bilayer environment is probed by neutron reflectivity.

Lipid nanoparticles of reversed internal phase structures, such as cubic micellar (I2) structure show good drug loading ability of peptides and proteins as well as some small molecules. Due to their controllable small size and inner morphology, such nanoparticles are suitable for drug delivery using several different administration routes, including intravenous, intramuscular, and subcutaneous injection. A very interesting system in this regard, is the two component soy phosphatidylcholine (SPC)/glycerol dioleate (GDO) system, which depending on the ratio of the lipid components form a range of reversed liquid crystalline phases. For a 50/50 (w/w) ratio in excess water, these lipids have been shown to form a reversed cubic micellar (I2) phase of the Fd3m structure. Here, we demonstrate that this SPC/GDO phase, in the presence of small quantities (5-10 wt %) of Polysorbate 80 (P80), can be dispersed into nanoparticles, still with well-defined Fd3m structure. The resulting nanoparticle dispersion has a narrow size distribution and exhibit good long-term stability. In pharmaceutical applications, biodegradation pathways of the drug delivery vehicles and their components are important considerations. In the second part of the study we show how the structure of the particles evolves during exposure to a triacylglycerol lipase (TGL) under physiological-like temperature and pH. TGL catalyzes the lipolytic degradation of acylglycerides, such as GDO, to monoglycerides, glycerol, and free fatty acids. During the degradation, the interior phase of the particles is shown to undergo continuous phase transitions from the reversed I2 structure to structures of less negative curvature (2D hexagonal, bicontinuous cubic, and sponge), ultimately resulting in the formation of multilamellar vesicles.

Nanodiscs are self-assembled $10 nm particles composed of lipid bilayer patches, stabilized by helical amphipathic belt proteins. The size, monodispersity and well-defined structure make the nanodiscs a popular model for the biological cell membrane, especially for structural and functional studies of membrane proteins. The structures and properties of nanodiscs made of zwitterionic lipids are well known. However, the biological cell membrane is negatively charged and thus nanodiscs containing anionic lipids should provide a better mimic of the native environment for membrane proteins. Despite the broad potential of charged nanodiscs, a systematic study of the influence of charged lipids on the nanodisc structure and stability has not yet been accomplished. In this paper, binary systems of zwitterionic DMPC mixed with the anionic lipids DMPG or DMPA or with the cationic synthetic DMTAP are used to prepare negatively and positively charged nanodiscs, respectively. Size exclusion chromatography analysis shows that nanodiscs can be prepared with high yield at all compositions of DMPC and DMPG, while mixtures of DMPC with either DMPA or DMTAP impair nanodisc formation. The presence of DMPG improves the stability of the nanodisc, both thermally and over time upon storage at À20 C, as compared to pure DMPC nanodiscs. This stabilization is attributed to favourable electrostatic interactions between the anionic head of DMPG and cationic charges of the belt protein and internanodisc repulsion that prevents aggregation of nanodiscs. In contrast, even small fractions of DMPA result in a faster degradation at À20 C. These results suggest that the mixing of DMPC and DMPG provides nanodiscs that are better suited for studies of the function and structure of membrane proteins not only due to their inherent charge but also due to their improved thermal and storage stability compared to pure DMPC nanodiscs.

Nanodiscs are self-assembled nanostructures composed of a belt protein and a small patch of lipid bilayer, which can solubilize membrane proteins in a lipid bilayer environment. We present a method for the alignment of a well-defined two-dimensional layer of nanodiscs at the air-water interface by careful design of an insoluble surfactant monolayer at the surface. We used neutron reflectivity to demonstrate the feasibility of this approach and to elucidate the structure of the nanodisc layer. The proof of concept is hereby presented with the use of nanodiscs composed of a mixture of two different lipid (DMPC and DMPG) types to obtain a net overall negative charge of the nanodiscs. We find that the nanodisc layer has a thickness or 40.9 ± 2.6 Å with a surface coverage of 66 ± 4%. This layer is located about 15 Å below a cationic surfactant layer at the air-water interface. The high level of organization within the nanodiscs layer is reflected by a low interfacial roughness (~4.5 Å) found. The use of the nanodisc as a biomimetic model of the cell membrane allows for studies of single membrane proteins isolated in a confined lipid environment. The 2D alignment of nanodiscs could therefore enable studies of high-density layers containing membrane proteins that, in contrast to membrane proteins reconstituted in a continuous lipid bilayer, remain isolated from influences of neighboring membrane proteins within the layer.

No abstract