Nature 358, 727 - 733 (27 August 1992); doi:10.1038/358727a0

Crystal structures explain functional properties of two E. coli porins

S. W. Cowan, T. Schirmer, G. Rummel^*, M. Steiert^*, R. Ghosh^*, R. A. Pauptit^†, J. N. Jansonius^‡ & J. P. Rosenbusch^*

Department of Structural Biology, ^*Department of Microbiology, Biocentre, University of Basel, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland
^†Present address: ICI Pharmaceuticals, Mereside, Alderley Park, Macclesfield, Cheshire SK10 4TG, UK.
^‡To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Porins form aqueous channels that aid the diffusion of small hydrophilic molecules across the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria. The crystal structures of matrix porin and phosphoporin both reveal trimers of identical subunits, each subunit consisting of a 16-stranded anti-parallel -barrel containing a pore. A long loop inside the barrel contributes to a constriction of the channel where the charge distribution affects ion selectivity. The structures explain at the molecular level functional characteristics and their alterations by known mutations.

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