Membrane transporter dimerization driven by differential lipid solvation energetics of dissociated and associated states

Over two-thirds of integral membrane proteins of known structure assemble into oligomers. Yet, the forces that drive the association of these proteins remain to be delineated, as the lipid bilayer is a solvent environment that is both structurally and chemically complex. In this study, we reveal how the lipid solvent defines the dimerization equilibrium of the CLC-ec1 C