Lipidic cubic phase technologies for structural studies of membrane proteins

Abstract

Lipidic cubic phase (LCP) is a gel-like liquid crystalline membrane-mimetic matrix. It has been successfully used to stabilize and crystallize challenging membrane proteins, such as G protein-coupled receptors, the structure of which is often difficult to obtain by other methods. Despite many advantages, the LCP crystallization method has not been widely adopted because of difficulties associated with handling highly viscous LCP material. Recent advances in the development of tools and instruments for LCP crystallization are aimed at facilitating the research in this area and to help structural biologists in integrating these technologies in their working routine.