Review

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology 7, 631-643 (September 2006) | doi:10.1038/nrm2002

Focus on: Lipids

SNAREs — engines for membrane fusion

Reinhard Jahn1 & Richard H. Scheller2  About the authors

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Since the discovery of SNARE proteins in the late 1980s, SNAREs have been recognized as key components of protein complexes that drive membrane fusion. Despite considerable sequence divergence among SNARE proteins, their mechanism seems to be conserved and is adaptable for fusion reactions as diverse as those involved in cell growth, membrane repair, cytokinesis and synaptic transmission. A fascinating picture of these robust nanomachines is emerging.

Author affiliations

  1. Department of Neurobiology, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Fassberg, 37077 Göttingen, Germany.
  2. Genentech Inc., South San Francisco, California 94080, USA.

Correspondence to: Reinhard Jahn1 Email: rjahn@gwdg.de

Published online 16 August 2006

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