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Irreversible assembly of membrane fusion machines

Nature Structural Biology volume 9, pages 78–80 (2002)Cite this article

A large kinetic barrier prevents spontaneous disassembly of SNARE complexes, complicating thermodynamic measurements and resulting in hysteresis. Nonetheless, this kinetic barrier is probably crucial for SNARE function.

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Figure 1: Schematic drawings of SNARE-mediated protein assembly.
Figure 2: Hysteresis loops in magnetization of a ferromagnetic metal (left) and in assembly/disassembly of SNARE complexes (right).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. the Department of Biophysics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, 21218, Maryland, USA

    Doug Barrick

  2. the Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, 08544, New Jersey, USA

    Frederick M. Hughson

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  1. Doug Barrick
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  2. Frederick M. Hughson
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Correspondence to Doug Barrick or Frederick M. Hughson.

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Barrick, D., Hughson, F. Irreversible assembly of membrane fusion machines. Nat Struct Mol Biol 9, 78–80 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nsb0202-78

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