Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Gao Y
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3677750 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Sep
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Gao Ying Y Zorman Sylvain S Gundersen Gregory G Xi Zhiqun Z Ma Lu L Sirinakis George G Rothman James E JE Zhang Yongli Y
Science (New York, N.Y.) 20120816 6100
Soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor (SNARE) proteins drive membrane fusion by assembling into a four-helix bundle in a zippering process. Here, we used optical tweezers to observe in a cell-free reconstitution experiment in real time a long-sought SNARE assembly intermediate in which only the membrane-distal amino-terminal half of the bundle is assembled. Our findings support the zippering hypothesis, but suggest that zippering proceeds through three sequential ...[more]