Membrane proteins articles within Nature Communications

Featured

• Article | 16 April 2013

  An engineered dimeric protein pore that spans adjacent lipid bilayers

  An important challenge in the bottom-up fabrication of artificial tissues is communication between compartments bounded by lipid bilayers. Mantri et al. engineer a dimeric transmembrane pore that, like eukaryotic gap junctions, can form a conductive pathway between adjacent bilayers.

  • Shiksha Mantri
  • , K. Tanuj Sapra
  •  & Hagan Bayley

• Article | 05 March 2013

  COG complexes form spatial landmarks for distinct SNARE complexes

  COG complexes are thought to be involved in tethering of intra-Golgi vesicles. Here the authors show that individual COG complex subunits direct the assembly of distinct vesicle-tethering platforms, suggesting that COG subunits have a role in the specificity of vesicular sorting.

  • Rose Willett
  • , Tetyana Kudlyk
  •  & Vladimir Lupashin

• Article | 15 January 2013

  hVps41 and VAMP7 function in direct TGN to late endosome transport of lysosomal membrane proteins

  Delivery of lysosome-associated membrane proteins (LAMPs), is important for lysosome stability and function. Here, Pols et al. identify a previously uncharacterized pathway for transport of lysosome-associated membrane proteins LAMPs directly from the trans-golgi network to late endosomes.

  • Maaike S. Pols
  • , Eline van Meel
  •  & Judith Klumperman

• Article
  11 December 2012 | Open Access

  MPIase is a glycolipozyme essential for membrane protein integration

  Proteins are integrated into cellular membranes either co-translationally through Sec/SRP or post-translationally by chaperones. These authors show that an integration-dedicated chaperone inE. coli, MPIase, is a glycolipid and facilitates protein insertion into the inner membrane of the bacterium.

  • Ken-ichi Nishiyama
  • , Masahide Maeda
  •  & Keiko Shimamoto

• Article | 04 December 2012

  Cardioprotection by Klotho through downregulation of TRPC6 channels in the mouse heart

  Mice that cannot produce the hormone Klotho show various aging-related phenotypes. Here, Xie and colleagues reveal that Klotho protects the heart of mice from stress-induced remodelling by inhibiting exocytosis of the TRPC6 ion channel in cardiomyocytes.

  • Jian Xie
  • , Seung-Kuy Cha
  •  & Chou-Long Huang

• Article | 23 October 2012

  Imaging the post-fusion release and capture of a vesicle membrane protein

  Rapid synaptic transmission requires efficient recycling of synaptic vesicle membrane proteins. Sochackiet al.use live cell, electron and super-resolution microscopy to visualize exocytosis of vesicular transporters and their rapid recapture in clathrin-rich microdomains in the plasma membrane.

  • Kem A. Sochacki
  • , Ben T. Larson
  •  & Justin W. Taraska

• Article | 01 May 2012

  Involvement of urinary bladder Connexin43 and the circadian clock in coordination of diurnal micturition rhythm

  Humans and rodents normally store more urine in the bladder when fast asleep than when awake. In this study, the production of the gap junction protein connexin43, a regulator of bladder capacity, is shown to oscillate in mouse urinary bladder muscle in synchrony with the circadian clock.

  • Hiromitsu Negoro
  • , Akihiro Kanematsu
  •  & Osamu Ogawa

• Article | 05 July 2011

  Identification of the PGRMC1 protein complex as the putative sigma-2 receptor binding site

  The sigma-2 receptor is used as a biomarker for tumour cell proliferation but its identity is unknown. Using a novel radiolabelled probe, the authors identify progesterone receptor membrane component 1, which is overexpressed in several tumour types, as the putative sigma-2 receptor.

  • Jinbin Xu
  • , Chenbo Zeng
  •  & Robert H. Mach

• Article
  31 May 2011 | Open Access

  TRAF6 ubiquitinates TGFβ type I receptor to promote its cleavage and nuclear translocation in cancer

  TGFβ can function as both a tumour suppressor and tumour promoter under different cellular contexts. Here, the cleavage product of the TGFβ type I receptor is shown to be generated in a TGFβ-dependent manner, and can induce the expression of genes involved in tumour cell invasion.

  • Yabing Mu
  • , Reshma Sundar
  •  & Marene Landström

• Article | 10 May 2011

  Mutual adaptation of a membrane protein and its lipid bilayer during conformational changes

  The detailed interactions of membrane proteins with their lipid environment are poorly understood. Sonntaget al. use low-resolution X-ray crystallographic data and molecular dynamics simulations to study the manner in which the sarcoendoplasmic reticulum Ca²⁺–ATPase adapts to different membrane environments.

  • Yonathan Sonntag
  • , Maria Musgaard
  •  & Lea Thøgersen

• Article | 12 April 2011

  LTD is a protein required for sorting light-harvesting chlorophyll-binding proteins to the chloroplast SRP pathway

  Chloroplast proteins are synthesized in the cytosol and imported into the chloroplast before being delivered to the thylakoids. The authors report that an ankyrin-repeat protein, LTD, is essential for the routing of chlorophyll-binding proteins to the signal recognition particle pathway.

  • Min Ouyang
  • , Xiaoyi Li
  •  & Lixin Zhang