Next generation SPR technology of membrane-bound proteins for ligand screening and biomarker discovery

摘要

Technology based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) has allowed rapid, label-free characterization of protein-protein and protein-small molecule interactions, from quantitative measurements of binding kinetics and thermodynamics and concentrations in complex samples to epitope analysis. SPR has become the gold standard in industrial and academic settings, in which typically the interaction between a pair of soluble binding partners is characterized in detail or a library of molecules is screened for binding against a single soluble protein. In spite of these successes, the technology is only beginning to be adapted to the needs of membrane-bound proteins. Including G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR), ion channels and other growth, immune and cellular receptors, these proteins are difficult to study in situ but represent promising targets for drug and biomarker development. Existing technologies, such as BIAcore™, have been adapted for membrane protein analysis by building supported lipid layers or vesicle capture on existing chips. Newer technologies, still in development, will allow membrane proteins to be presented in native or near-native formats. These include SPR nanopore arrays, in which lipid bilayers containing membrane proteins stably span small pores that are addressable from both sides of the bilayer. Here, we discuss successes with current SPR instrumentation and the potential for SPR nanopore arrays to enable quantitative, high-throughput screening of GPCR ligands, biomarker discovery involving membrane bound proteins and basic cellular biology.