New Technology for Studying Membrane Structure

New technology called Aviv Plasmon Waveguide Resonance (PWR) allows researchers to study molecular interactions, protein structure changes, and molecular orientation in membrane environments. The technology was presented at the Protein Society Symposium and Exhibit in San Diego, CA (USA).

Based on the principles of both surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and waveguide phenomena, the Aviv PWR technology is a spectroscopic technique designed to provide critical information about biologic samples in real-time, faster, more directly, and with higher sensitivity than other techniques. Instead of making relative measurements of the resonance angle, the Aviv PWR measures the absolute reflectance as a function of the absolute angle, resulting in reflectance spectra that can be analyzed in terms of the sample's optical properties.

The Aviv PWR technology was developed by Protein Solutions (Lakewood, NJ, USA). Applications currently available include studying membrane-bound proteins and peptides, studying interactions and structure, and characterizing lipid layers. The technology has been applied to the study of G-protein-coupled receptors (GCPRs), a class of membrane proteins involved in cell signaling and regulation. Protein Solutions is licensing the PWR technology on an application-specific basis, with each licensee having exclusive application protection.




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