Amphipathic polymers for native nanodisc production and screening of membrane protein targets

The popularity of our SMALP technology is due to its unique ability to prepare detergent- free membrane proteins. By contrast, detergent-based methods destabilize and deactivate membrane protein complexes. Our functional derivatives of maleimide (FDM) technology offers next generation nanodiscs that incorporate alternating hydrophobic and hydrophilic sidechains, resulting in lower compositional heterogeneity. Unlike other available copolymers, FDMs maximize structural resolution and quantitative accuracy in binding assays, while minimizing nonspecific interactions. Highly desirable features designed into our polymers include intrinsic fluorescence, affinity tags including poly-His and biotin, and the capacity to stabilize megadalton-size membrane protein targets under a wider range of solution conditions.