Solubilization and structural stability of bacteriorhodopsin with a mild nonionic detergent, n-octyl-β-thioglucoside

Abstract

Solubilization and structural stability of a membrane protein bacteriorhodopsin (bR) with n-octyl-β-thioglu-coside (OTG) was investigated in comparison with a previous study on bR solubilized with n-octyl-β- gluco-side (OG). Highly efficient and stable solubilization of bR with OTG was accomplished above the OTG concentration of about 15 mM. In comparison with OG-solubilized bR, the structural stability of OTG-solubilized bR was high in the dark and under light illumination. These results indicate that OTG is a detergent superior to OG for solubilizing bR molecules.