Structure of voltage‐dependent anion channel‐tethered bilayer lipid membranes determined using neutron reflectivity

Neutron reflectivity (NR) has emerged as a powerful technique to study the structure and behavior of membrane proteins at planar lipid interfaces. Integral membrane proteins (IMPs) remain a significant challenge for NR owing to the difficulty of forming complete bilayers with sufficient protein density for scattering techniques. One strategy to achieve high protein density on a solid substrate is the capture of detergent‐stabilized, affinity‐tagged IMPs on a nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA)‐functionalized self‐assembled monolayer (SAM), followed by reconstitution into the lipids of interest. Such protein‐tethered bilayer lipid membranes (ptBLMs) have the notable advantage of a uniform IMP orientation on the substrate. Here, NR is used to provide a structural characterization of the ptBLM process from formation of the SAM to capture of the detergent‐stabilized IMP and lipid reconstitution. The mitochondrial outer‐membrane voltage‐dependent anion channel (VDAC), which controls the exchange of bioenergetic metabolites between mitochondria and the cytosol, was used as a model β‐barrel IMP. Molecular dynamics simulations were used for comparison with the experimental results and to inform the parameters of the physical models describing the NR data. The detailed structure of the SAM is shown to depend on the density of the NTA chelating groups. The relative content of detergent and protein in surface‐immobilized, detergent‐stabilized VDAC is measured, while the reconstituted lipid bilayer is shown to be complete to within a few percent, using the known atomic structure of VDAC. Finally, excess lipid above the reconstituted bilayer, which is of consequence for more indirect structural and functional studies, is shown to be present. Using neutron reflectivity, a comprehensive structural characterization is provided of each step in the formation of a protein‐tethered bilayer lipid membrane. Relevant physical parameters of self‐assembled monolayers, surface‐captured detergent‐stabilized protein and the bilayer lipid membrane reconstituted by dialysis around the surface‐captured tethering proteins are reported.