Patent ID: 7678546

Claim:
A method for detecting a candidate drug binding to a cell membrane protein by solid-state NMR, the method comprising: self-assembling a composition containing lipids and a cell membrane protein into a lipid bilayer in nanopores of a plurality of anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) support substrates; positioning said AAO support substrates in a solid-state NMR flow cell; associating said solid-state NMR flow cell with a radio-frequency solenoid in an NMR instrument so as to orient the composition such that a surface of the lipid bilayer is substantially parallel to the NMR instrument's magnetic field; passing a first solution containing one or more candidate drugs through the flow cell so as to contact the cell membrane protein; generating a first solid-state NMR spectrum for said cell membrane protein; passing a second solution free of candidate drugs through the flow cell so as to wash the cell membrane protein of bound and unbound candidate drugs; generating a second solid-state NMR spectrum for said washed cell membrane protein; and detecting a shift in resonance frequencies of the solid-state NMR spectrum of said cell membrane protein from the first spectrum to the second spectrum as an indicator of protein binding by at least one candidate drug.