Purification and characterization of the Lassa virus transmembrane domain

Lassa virus (LASV) is the most prevalent arenavirus afflicting humans and has high potential to become a threat to global public health. The transmembrane domain (TM) of the LASV glycoprotein complex forms critical interactions with the LASV stable signal peptide that are important for the maturation and fusion activity of the virus. A further study of the structure-based molecular mechanisms is required to understand the role of the TM in the lifecycle of LASV in greater detail. However, it is challenging to obtain the TM in high quantity and purity due to its hydrophobic nature which results in solubility issues that makes it prone to aggregation in typical buffer systems. Here, we designed a purification and detergent screen protocol for the highly insoluble TM to enhance the yield and purity for structural studies. Based on the detergents tested, the TM had the highest incorporation in LMPG. Circular dichroism (CD) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy were utilized to confirm the best detergent system for structural studies. Through CD spectroscopy, we were able to characterize the secondary structure of the TM as largely alpha-helical, while NMR spectroscopy showed a well-structured and stable TM in LMPG. From these results, LMPG was determined to be the optimal detergent for further structural studies.