Fig. 4.

AFM confirms the association between NLPs and bR. A, AFM image of NLPs produced through cell-free co-expression of Δ49A1 and bR in the presence of DMPC. The brighter green regions are NLPs with a higher height indicating the insertion and plausible location of bR in the lipid bilayer. Scale bars, 50 nm. The white arrow indicates expression of empty NLPs; the yellow arrow indicates the bR·NLP complex. B, height histogram of NLPs produced through conventional assembly of Δ55A1 with DMPC alone (blue) or in the presence of purple membrane bR and DMPC (black). The yellow shaded areas indicate populations with an increased height. C, height histogram of NLPs produced through cell-free expression of Δ49A1 with DMPC alone (blue) or co-expression of bR and Δ49A1 in the presence of DMPC (black). The yellow shaded areas indicate populations with an increased height. NLP heights were analyzed through cross-sectional analysis.