Purification of AcrAB-TolC multidrug efflux pump for Cryo-EM analysis

Abstract

The cell envelope of Gram-negative bacteria comprises an outer membrane, a cytoplasmic inner membrane, and an interstitial space. The tripartite multidrug transporter AcrAB-TolC, which uses proton electrochemical gradients to vectorially drive the efflux of drugs from the cell, spans this envelope. We describe here details of the methods used to prepare the recombinant tripartite assembly for high-resolution structure determination by cryo-EM.