X-ray and Neutron Reflectivity Studies of Styrene-Maleic Acid Copolymer Interactions with Galactolipid-Containing Monolayers.

Styrene-maleic acid (SMA) copolymers have recently gained attention for their ability to facilitate the detergent-free solubilization of membrane protein complexes and their native boundary lipids into polymer-encapsulated, nanosized lipid particles, referred to as SMALPs. However, the interfacial interactions between SMA and lipids, which dictate the mechanism, efficiency, and selectivity of lipid and membrane protein extraction, are barely understood. Our recent finding has shown that SMA 1440, a chemical derivative of the SMA family with a functionalized butoxyethanol group, was most active in galactolipid-rich membranes, as opposed to phospholipid membranes. In the present work, we have performed X-ray reflectometry (XRR) and neutron reflectometry (NR) on the lipid monolayers at the liquid-air interface followed by the SMA copolymer adsorption. XRR and Langmuir Π-A isotherms captured the fluidifying effect of galactolipids, which allowed SMA copolymers to infiltrate easily into the lipid membranes. NR results revealed the detailed structural arrangement of SMA 1440 copolymers within the membranes and highlighted the partition of butoxyethanol group into the lipid tail region. This work allows us to propose a possible mechanism for the membrane solubilization by SMA.

Elucidating Protein Translocon Dynamics with Single-Molecule Precision.

Translocons are protein assemblies that facilitate the targeting and transport of proteins into and across biological membranes. Our understanding of these systems has been advanced using genetics, biochemistry, and structural biology. Despite these classic advances, until recently we have still largely lacked a detailed understanding of how translocons recognize and facilitate protein translocation. With the advent and improvements of cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) single-particle analysis and single-molecule fluorescence microscopy, the details of how translocons function are finally emerging. Here, we introduce these methods and evaluate their importance in understanding translocon structure, function, and dynamics.

Coupled Cluster Externally Corrected by Adaptive Configuration Interaction.

An externally corrected coupled cluster (CC) method, where an adaptive configuration interaction (ACI) wave function provides the external cluster amplitudes, named ACI-CC, is presented. By exploiting the connection between configuration interaction and CC through cluster analysis, the higher-order T3 and T4 terms obtained from ACI are used to augment the T1 and T2 amplitude equations from traditional CC. These higher-order contributions are kept frozen during the CC iterations and do not contribute to an increased cost with respect to coupled cluster including the single and double excitations (CCSD). We have benchmarked this method on three closed-shell systems: beryllium dimer, carbonyl oxide, and cyclobutadiene, with good results compared to other corrected CC methods. In all cases, the inclusion of these external corrections improved upon the "gold standard" CCSD(T) results, indicating that ACI-CCSD(T) can be used to assess strong correlation effects in a system and as an inexpensive starting point for more complex external corrections.