Fluorinated surfactants for membrane protein stabilization and

Fluorinated surfactants for membrane
protein stabilization and structural
investigation.
Christine EBEL
Institut de Biologie Structurale, CEA-CNRS-Université. Joseph
Fourier, Grenoble, FRANCE
Membrane proteins are difficult to study in vitro. This is in particular related to their limited
stability and motivates the search of new surfactants, and among them, fluorinated surfactants
synthesized at the University of Avignon. Fluorinated surfactants with a polymeric hydrophilic
head proved to be particularly mild towards membrane proteins.
Surfactants were designed with chemically defined polar heads for structural applications. The
shape of the assemblies was shown to be modulated by the geometry of the molecules. Two
specific surfactants leaded to both homogeneous and stable complexes of membrane proteins,
and appear to be of particular interest for their structural investigation using small angle neutron
scattering.
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