New vehicles allow detergent-free mass spectrometry of membrane protein complexes

The rapid growth in the study of membrane protein complexes in lipid microenvironments prompts new methods for their characterization. Here we develop mass spectrometry as a method for studying membrane proteins incorporated into amphipols, bicelles and nanodiscs. We compare these detergent-free vehicles with micelles for their ability to preserve the interactions of oligomeric complexes and to stabilize proteins that require defined lipid environments.