EPR deer distance measurements on KCNE3 in proteoliposomes

KCNE3 is a single pass membrane protein involved in modulating the function and trafficking of variety of voltage gated potassium ion channels. A three dimensional structure of KCNE3 was recently determined using a solution NMR spectroscopy in isotropic DHPC/DMPG bicelles by the Sanders group. However, the structural topology and dynamic properties of KCNE3 are not fully understood in its native like environment. Double electron electron resonance (DEER), an advanced electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopic technique, is a very powerful and rapidly growing structure biology tool to study structural dynamics of a membrane protein by measuring distances within the range of 20-80 Å between two spin-labeled sites.