Limitations in membrane protein structure determination by lipid nanodiscs

Abstract

Lipid nanodiscs are popular mimetics of biological membranes for determining membrane protein structures. However, a recent study revealed that the choice of nanodisc scaffold directly influenced the structure of an ion channel. This finding prompts us to be cautious and calls for improved membrane mimetics for structure determination.

Keywords: ELIC; cryo-EM; lipid membrane; membrane protein structure; nanodisc.