WATER-SOLUBLE TRANS-MEMBRANE PROTEINS AND METHODS FOR THE PREPARATION AND USE THEREOF

1 . A computer implemented method for executing a procedure to select a water-soluble variant of a G Protein-Coupled Receptor (GPCR), the method comprising:

entering a sequence of the GPCR for analysis;

obtaining a variant of the GPCR, wherein a plurality of hydrophobic amino acids in the transmembrane (TM) domain alpha-helical segments (“TM regions”) of the GPCR are substituted, wherein:

(a) said hydrophobic amino acids are selected from the group consisting of Leucine (L), Isoleucine (I), Valine (V), and Phenylalanine (F);

(b) each said Leucine (L) is independently substituted by Glutamine (Q), Asparagine (N), or Serine (S);

(c) each said Isoleucine (I) and said Valine (V) are independently substituted by Threonine (T), Asparagine (N), or Serine (S); and,

(d) each said Phenylalanine is substituted by Tyrosine (Y); and, subsequently, obtaining an α-helical secondary structure result for the variant to verify maintenance of α-helical secondary structures in the variant;

obtaining a trans-membrane region result for the variant to verify water solubility of the variant,

thereby selecting the water-soluble variant of the GPCR.

2 .- 33 . (canceled)

34 . A water-soluble variant of a G Protein-Coupled Receptor (GPCR), wherein a plurality of hydrophobic amino acids in the transmembrane (TM) domain alpha-helical segments (“TM regions”) of the GPCR are substituted, wherein:

(a) said hydrophobic amino acids are selected from the group consisting of Leucine (L), Isoleucine (I), Valine (V), and Phenylalanine (F);

(b) each said Leucine (L) is independently substituted by Glutamine (Q), Asparagine (N), or Serine (S);

(c) each said Isoleucine (I) and said Valine (V) are independently substituted by Threonine (T), Asparagine (N), or Serine (S); and,

(d) each said Phenylalanine is substituted by Tyrosine (Y); and, subsequently, all seven TM regions of the variant maintains α-helical secondary structures; and, there is no predicted trans-membrane region.

35 .- 51 . (canceled)

52 . A method of producing a protein in a bacterium (e.g., an E. coli ), comprising:

(a) culturing the bacterium in a growth medium under a condition suitable for protein production;

(b) fractioning a lysate of the bacterium to produce a soluble fraction and the insoluble pellet fraction; and,

(c) isolating the protein from the soluble fraction;

wherein:

(1) the protein is a variant G-protein couple receptor (GPCR) of any one of claims 29 - 46 ; and,

(2) the yield of the protein is at least 20 mg/L (e.g., 30 mg/L, 40 mg/L, 50 mg/L or more) of growth medium.

53 .- 60 . (canceled)