Although significant advances have been made in obtaining crystal structures of membrane proteins, very few membrane proteins have been crystallised. Even when proteins have been crystallised certain parts of the structure remain elusive.
It is therefore still necessary to continue using fluorescence and other indirect techniques to provide information about the structure of membrane proteins.
We are using molecular biology techniques to modify a range of membrane proteins including the potassium channels, mechanosensitive sensitive channels, calcium pumps and diacylglycerol kinase from bacterial sources to provide valuable information about structure and conformation.