1. Josep Rizo and Han Dai are in the Departments of Biochemistry and Pharmacology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 6000 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, Texas 75390, USA.
2. Han Dai is currently in the Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, 250 Longwood Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. e-mail: jose@arnie.swmed.edu

Abstract

The high stability of SNARE complexes is probably crucial for their role in membrane fusion, but it has been difficult to measure. A surface-forces apparatus has now been used to measure the stabilization energy of a partially assembled SNARE complex, and the result (35 k_BT) is among the highest protein-folding free energies ever observed. Moreover, this approach offers a bright future for further structural and energetic studies of membrane fusion machineries.

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