Measuring Membrane Protein Interactions Using Optical Biosensors

Membrane proteins, such as G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and ion channels, represent important but technically challenging targets for the management of pain and other diseases. Studying their interactions has enabled the development of new therapeutics, diagnostics, and research reagents, but biophysical manipulation of membrane proteins is often difficult because of the requirement of most membrane proteins for an intact lipid bilayer. Here, we describe the use of virus-like particles as presentation vehicles for cellular membrane proteins (“Lipoparticles”). The methods for using Lipoparticles on optical biosensors, such as the BioRad ProteOn XPR36, are discussed as a means to characterize the kinetics, affinity, and specificity of antibody interactions using surface plasmon resonance detection.