Electrostatically driven lipid-protein interaction: Answers from FRET

摘要

Electrostatics govern the association of a large number of proteins with cellular membranes. In some cases, these proteins present specialized lipid-binding modules or membrane targeting domains while in other cases association is achieved through nonspecific interaction of unstructured clusters of basic residues with negatively charged lipids. Given its spatial resolution in the nanometer range, Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) is a powerful tool to give insight into protein-lipid interactions and provide molecular level information which is difficult to retrieve with other spectroscopic techniques.