Generation of proteoliposomes from subcellular fractions.

Intracellular membranes are highly dynamic, yet they retain their identity and functional characteristics. Integral membrane proteins, which must confer this specific membrane identity, remain poorly characterized at the biochemical level, largely because detergent-mediated solubilization is required for purification and analysis, and several properties of integral membrane proteins can only be investigated when the molecule is properly embedded in a lipid bilayer. We present a method for the efficient reconstitution into proteoliposomes of integral membrane proteins from subcellular fractions. Integral membrane proteins were identified on high-resolution two-dimensional gels after selectiv…