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Membrane proteins take center stage in Frankfurt

Biological membranes are dynamic frontiers whose molecules must delicately balance the needs for compartmentalization and communication, and the gap between the vital significance of transport and signaling through membranes and our poor understanding of the precise functionality of these processes is daunting. However, a recent conference highlighted promising progress in the field, particularly made possible by the increasing structural knowledge about membrane proteins.

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Figure 1: Proposed model of FHA transport across the outer membrane.
Figure 2: Typical cycle for ion-coupled secondary transport involving cotransport of a substrate with an ion.
Figure 3: SRP-mediated protein translocation across membranes.

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Acknowledgements

We thank J. Pietzsch for his support in transferring specialized, expert knowledge into a general scientific form. We are grateful to J. Uphoff for excellent administrative co-organization. The meeting was supported by the SFB 807 “Membrane Transport and Communication” (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft).

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Schleiff, E., Tampé, R. Membrane proteins take center stage in Frankfurt. Nat Chem Biol 5, 135–139 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio0309-135

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