Seeing membrane proteins as they actually exist in human cells
The NCMN (Native Cell Membrane Nanoparticle) system enables native-state structural biology by extracting and stabilizing membrane proteins without using detergents.
Instead of detergents, NCMN uses specially designed membrane-active polymers to pull proteins out of the cell membrane while keeping their surrounding lipids intact. That preserves the protein's natural shape, activity, and the protein–lipid interactions that are usually lost with traditional detergent-based methods.
This breakthrough means researchers can now use cryo-EM to see high-resolution structures of membrane proteins — including major drug targets like GPCRs — in their true native lipid environment, revealing the actual drug-binding sites as they exist in living human cells.
Roughly 60% of all current drugs target membrane proteins, so a detergent-free approach significantly improves the accuracy of structure-based drug design. It shows researchers the real form of their targets, helps design compounds that work better on the actual protein structure, extends how long stabilized receptors remain functional for testing, and reveals the true oligomeric state of proteins — critical for understanding how drugs affect their function.
In short, NCMN lets scientists see and study membrane proteins the way they naturally exist in cells, accelerating development of more effective therapies.