The proton pump transmembrane protein bacteriorhodopsin was successfully incorporated into planar floating lipid bilayers in gel and fluid phases, by applying a detergent-mediated incorporation method. The method was optimized on single supported bilayers by using quartz crystal microbalance, atomic force and fluorescence microscopy techniques. Lipid bilayer integrity and protein activity were preserved upon the reconstitution process. Reversible structural modifications of the membrane, induced by the bacteriorhodopsin functional activity triggered by visible light, were observed and characterized at the nanoscale.
AFM imaging was produced by Jean-Marie Teulon with samples prepared by Tetiana Mukhina.
Mukhina T, et al. (2021) Insertion and activation of functional Bacteriorhodopsin in a floating bilayer. J. Colloid Interface Sci. 597 : 370-382.