Detergent Binding in Membrane Protein Crystals by Neutron Crystallography

Neutron low resolution crystallography is a powerful technique for visualizing disordered regions in crystals of biomolecular complexes and in particular the localization of detergent in crystals of membrane proteins. The technique of course relies on the availability of crystals but these do not necessarily have to be very large as required for high resolution crystallography −0.1 mm3 or less is sufficient. The membrane protein structures studied to date have demonstrated that not only are protein-protein interactions important in the formation of crystals but that in some cases protein-detergent and even detergent-detergent interactions can be crucial.