Lipidic cubic phase technologies for membrane protein structural studies

Lipidic cubic phase (LCP) is a membrane-mimetic matrix suitable for stabilization and crystallization of membrane proteins in lipidic environment. LCP technologies, however, have not been fully embraced by the membrane protein structural biology community, primarily because of the difficulties associated with handling viscous materials. Recent developments of pre-crystallization assays and improvements in crystal imaging, successes in obtaining high resolution structures of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), and commercial availability of LCP tools and instruments are beginning to attract structural biologists to integrate LCP technologies in their research. This wider acceptance should translate to an increased number of otherwise difficult-to-crystallize membrane protein structures, shedding light on their functional mechanisms and on structural details of lipid–protein interactions.

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► Lipidic cubic phase (LCP) is a unique membrane-mimetic matrix for structural studies.
► LCP was instrumental in obtaining high-resolution human GPRC structures.
► Novel LCP technologies have appeared and been commercialized.
► Wider acceptance of LCP methods should accelerate membrane protein studies.