Förster Resonance Energy Transfer as a Tool for Quantification of Protein-Lipid Selectivity

This chapter addresses the determination of protein-lipid selectivity, here described as the preference of a protein for having a specific type of lipid in its vicinity, from Förster resonance energy transfer methodologies. These allow a quantification of the effect, that is, the determination of the biasing in distribution of the lipid under study around the protein, as compared to its bulk membrane distribution, with advantages over established approaches that have been used for the same purpose, such as electron spin resonance spectroscopy. The experiment can be carried out with steady-state instrumentation, the formalisms are described in detail, and the model can be applied to a membrane protein of any size.