Membrane biophysics articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article |

    The mechanism by which KCNEβ subunits slow the kinetics of KCNQ1 channels is controversial. Here, Barro-Soria et al.show that mutually independent voltage sensor movements underlie the initial activation delay, and a subsequent slower conformational change opens the channel.

    • Rene Barro-Soria
    • , Santiago Rebolledo
    •  & H. Peter Larsson

  • Article |

    CorA is the major magnesium influx pathway in bacteria, but the mechanism for the uptake of magnesium by this system is not clear. Here, Dalmas et al.show that CorA is regulated by cytoplasmic magnesium levels, and determine the conformational changes required for the regulation by a negative feedback loop.

    • Olivier Dalmas
    • , Pornthep Sompornpisut
    •  & Eduardo Perozo

  • Article |

    STIM proteins are key regulators of intracellular Ca2+ signalling. Here, Wang et al. demonstrate that subtle differences between STIM1 and its close homologue STIM2 have profound consequences for their ability to gate Orai1 Ca2+channels, thus revealing the basis for their distinct physiological functions.

    • Xizhuo Wang
    • , Youjun Wang
    •  & Donald L Gill

  • Article |

    TMEM16-channel family members have been shown to be involved in Ca2+-dependent lipid scrambling, but whether they have intrinsic scramblase activity remains controversial. Malvezzi et al. identify a TMEM16 family member in Aspergillus in which a single Ca2+-binding site regulates intrinsic channel and scramblase activities.

    • Mattia Malvezzi
    • , Madhavan Chalat
    •  & Alessio Accardi

  • Article |

    The plasma membrane is thought to comprise a patchwork of ordered and disordered microdomains; however, direct evidence for this in intact cells remains elusive. Using unmixing of fluorescence lifetime decays, Owen et al. show that ordered domains occupy a majority of the plasma membrane surface in living cells.

    • Dylan M. Owen
    • , David J. Williamson
    •  & Katharina Gaus

  • Article |

    The bacterial channel protein MscL opens in response to mechanical forces and could be exploited for vesicular-based drug delivery. Doerneret al. show that functional MscL can be expressed in mammalian cells and facilitate the controlled cellular uptake of relatively large, membrane-impermeable bioactive molecules.

    • Julia F. Doerner
    • , Sebastien Febvay
    •  & David E. Clapham

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Pulsed infrared laser light can directly stimulate nerves and muscles, but the underlying biophysical mechanism has remained enigmatic. This study reveals that infrared pulses depolarize target cells by reversibly altering the electrical capacitance of the plasma membrane.

    • Mikhail G. Shapiro
    • , Kazuaki Homma
    •  & Francisco Bezanilla

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In the classical model, fast neuronal signalling occurs at specialized presynaptic terminals. Now, Ratnayakaet al. show that stimulus-driven fusion and recycling of synaptic vesicles can occur at axonal sites remote from conventional synapses. These findings have implications for dynamic forms of neuron–neuron communication.

    • Arjuna Ratnayaka
    • , Vincenzo Marra
    •  & Kevin Staras

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A bacterial export gate complex transports flagellar proteins across the cytoplasmic membrane, but the mechanism of this process is unclear. Here, the export gate complex is revealed as a proton–protein antiporter that uses separate components of the proton motive force for different steps of the export process.

    • Tohru Minamino
    • , Yusuke V. Morimoto
    •  & Keiichi Namba

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ambient levels of the neurotransmitter GABA tonically activate GABAA. Song et al.show that GABA can have both excitatory and inhibitory effects on hippocampal interneurons and find that low levels of GABA-mediated conductance are excitatory, whereas higher levels result in shunting inhibition.

    • Inseon Song
    • , Leonid Savtchenko
    •  & Alexey Semyanov

  • Article |

    Acoustic communication is important for the reproductive behaviour of frogs. Using acoustic playback experiments, Shenet al. show that calls from male concave-eared frogs (Odorrana tormota) evoke vocal responses and phonotaxis from females, but the females show no ultrasonic sensitivity.

    • Jun-Xian Shen
    • , Zhi-Min Xu
    •  & Shang-Chun Fan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Eukaryotic cell plasma membranes possess a mechanism to repair tears caused by stimuli such as mechanical stress. The authors demonstrate that annexin-A5, when assembled into two-dimensional arrays in the presence of calcium, is required for membrane repair.

    • Anthony Bouter
    • , Céline Gounou
    •  & Alain R. Brisson

  • Article |

    The cochlear amplifier in the inner ear is thought to mediate sensitivity to soft sounds, but this power gain has not been measured directly. Renet aluse an interferometer to measure the volume displacement and velocity of the cochlear partition and demonstrate experimentally that the cochlea amplifies soft sounds.

    • Tianying Ren
    • , Wenxuan He
    •  & Peter G. Gillespie

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