School of Physics Soft Condensed Matter & Biophysics Seminar: Prof. Peter Yunker, Georgia Tech School of Physics

Single-span membrane proteins (ssMPs) are anchored by single hydrophobic helices to cell surfaces, where they mediate cell-cell communications. Unfortunately, hydrophobic helices also cause aggregation in solution, rendering ssMPs non-functional. We discovered that in vitro newly synthesized ssMPs insert hydrophobic helices into oil drops, thus preventing aggregation, and promoting assembly of functional structures on the drop’s surface. We use this approach to synthesize and display apoptosis-inducing ssMPs and show that these "death drops" are functional, and can kill cultured cancer cells. Our results illustrate a one-pot method for rapid synthesis and assembly of functional ssMPs, which is facilitated by the hydrophobic interaction, rather than limited by it. Such functionalized oil drops also represent a new platform to communicate with cells.