Figure 2. Protein expression and lipid-phase separation for OspA heterodimers.

Each heterodimer was expressed in two different versions having the respective monomers stabilized with the “A” or the “B” modifications; Lip-D1A2A-His, Lip-D1B2B-His, Lip-D4A3A-His, Lip-D4B3B-His, Lip-D5A6A-His and Lip-D5B6B-His. The expression levels of all six heterodimers were similar when the crude lysates were analyzed. However, heterodimers using stabilization “B” were recovered in higher amounts in the lipid-phase after phase separation, indicating more efficient lipidation and higher solubility. Protein bands representing the heterodimers are indicated with arrows. Abbreviations: Crude lysate (C), Lipid-phase (L).