Membrane structure and assembly articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Efficient production of MSC secretome for therapeutic applications remains a challenging task. Here, the authors present an approach whereby an acoustofluidic mechanobiological environment can form reproducible 3D MSC aggregates, allowing for secretome production with high efficiency.

    • Ye He
    • , Shujie Yang
    •  & Tony Jun Huang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Asymmetric phospholipid distribution in cell membranes is vital for cellular function. Here, authors reveal how ATP8B1, a P4-ATPase, can transport different lipids, including phosphatidylinositol.

    • Thibaud Dieudonné
    • , Felix Kümmerer
    •  & Poul Nissen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nano-environmental probes and advance imaging microscopy provide deep insight into protein phase separation and the interaction of condensates with membranes, revealing that wetting by condensates can modulate membrane lipid packing and hydration.

    • Agustín Mangiarotti
    • , Macarena Siri
    •  & Rumiana Dimova

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The outer membrane (OM) of Gram-negative bacteria is an asymmetric bilayer, with phospholipids in the inner leaflet. Here the authors show that a reduction in OM proteins and the subsequent mislocalization of phospholipids weaken the OM and alter growth rate and cell shape, emphasizing the role of OM proteins in OM stiffness and cell shape.

    • Irina V. Mikheyeva
    • , Jiawei Sun
    •  & Thomas J. Silhavy

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hydroxysteroid 17-beta-dehydrogenase 13 (HSD17B13) is a hepatic lipid droplet-associated enzyme that is upregulated in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Here, the authors report crystal structures of HSD17B13 and its complexes with two series of inhibitors.

    • Shenping Liu
    • , Ruth F. Sommese
    •  & Michelle F. Clasquin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In this work, the authors investigated on the interaction of biomolecular condensates with membranes and report that they can exhibit two wetting transitions modulated by membrane or milieu composition. Condensate adhesion can trigger intriguing ruffling of the membrane interface into complex finger-like structures.

    • Agustín Mangiarotti
    • , Nannan Chen
    •  & Rumiana Dimova

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lipid flipping across membrane leaflets are vital yet enigmatic biological processes. Here, five cryo-EM structures provide snapshots to delineate a mechanism of omega-3 fatty acid flipping across the blood brain barrier.

    • Chi Nguyen
    • , Hsiang-Ting Lei
    •  & Tamir Gonen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    How membranes are stretched and bent around the complex structures of cellular organelles is not fully understood. Xiang and colleagues report that endoplasmic reticulum tubule-forming proteins generate membrane curvature by constructing a curved oligomeric scaffold.

    • Yun Xiang
    • , Rui Lyu
    •  & Junjie Hu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    TRIM72 oligomerization via intermolecular disulfide bonds is important for cells to repair damaged membranes. Here, authors report the crystal structure of TRIM72 dimer and show that TRIM72 B-box dimerization facilitates TRIM72 oligomerization.

    • Yuemin Ma
    • , Lei Ding
    •  & Chun Zhou

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hepatitis C virus (HCV) uses a hybrid entry mechanism. Upon exposure to low pH, envelope glycoprotein E2 releases an internal loop into the host membrane. Here we show the amino terminal region is a critical determinant for membrane interaction, providing insights into the HCV entry mechanism.

    • Ashish Kumar
    • , Tiana C. Rohe
    •  & Joseph Marcotrigiano

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In plants, plasma membrane topologies are predominantly driven by the cell wall. In this study, the authors demonstrate that remorin proteins can take over these functions at specialized, unwalled plasma membranes such as infection droplets associated with symbiotic infection threads.

    • Chao Su
    • , Marta Rodriguez-Franco
    •  & Thomas Ott

  • Article
    | Open Access

    GPCRs are integral membrane proteins that serve as attractive drug targets. Here, authors delineate the conformational landscapes of 45 GPCRs using a statistical model, highlighting their malleable native ensembles and providing functional insights.

    • Sathvik Anantakrishnan
    •  & Athi N. Naganathan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    This study demonstrates that the curvature of the cell membrane directly regulates the spatial distribution of Piezo1, a widely expressed mechanosensitive ion channel. Piezo1 may flatten upon activation and can mechanically inhibit membrane dynamics

    • Shilong Yang
    • , Xinwen Miao
    •  & Zheng Shi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    High-Speed Atomic Force Microscopy movies of membrane proteins — diffusing and interacting in bilayers of controlled thickness — allow the determination of membrane-mediated membrane protein interaction energetics.

    • Yining Jiang
    • , Batiste Thienpont
    •  & Simon Scheuring

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Interactions between α-synuclein fibrils and lipids have been associated with the development of Parkinson’s disease. This cryo-EM study reveals structural details of these interactions and suggests a mechanism for fibril-induced lipid extraction.

    • Benedikt Frieg
    • , Leif Antonschmidt
    •  & Gunnar F. Schröder

  • Article
    | Open Access

    PldA, a phospholipase D (PLD) effector, catalyzes hydrolysis of the phosphodiester bonds of glycerophospholipids—the main component of cell membranes—and assists the invasion of the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In this work, the authors report three intermediate structures of PldA by employing an integrated approach combining structural biology and biochemistry. Structural analysis reveals that the significant conformational changes in the “lid” region and the peripheral helical domain trigger the switch of the active pocket of PldA to regulate the enzymatic activity. The structure-based mutational experiments identified a series of key residues responsible for substrate hydrolysis activity and the interactions between PldA and PA3488. In summary, this work provides the structural basis for understanding the PldA-mediated invasion of P. aeruginosa and can aid the future drug development targeting PldA.

    • Xiaoyun Yang
    • , Zongqiang Li
    •  & Yanhua Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Alpha-helix nanopores have a range of potential applications and the inclusion of non-natural amino acids allows for modification. Here, the authors report on the creation of alpha-helix pores using D-amino acids and show the pores formed, have different properties to the L-counterparts and were resistant to proteases.

    • Smrithi Krishnan R
    • , Kalyanashis Jana
    •  & Kozhinjampara R. Mahendran

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Direct visualization of the structural transformation from pre-pore to pore of the mammalian immune defense complex perforin-2 (PFN2) reveals a clockwise hand-over-hand mechanism that propagates at ~15 subunits per second.

    • Fang Jiao
    • , François Dehez
    •  & Simon Scheuring

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Membrane fusion is essential for cellular entry of enveloped viruses. Here, authors use time-resolved cryo-electron tomography and subtomogram averaging to capture 3D organization and population evolution of intermediates during membrane fusion of CHIKV, a medically important alphavirus.

    • Vidya Mangala Prasad
    • , Jelle S. Blijleven
    •  & Kelly K. Lee

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Small solute carriers remain difficult to study by single particle cryo-EM. Here, the authors report the cryo-EM structure of human insulin-responsive glucose transporter GLUT4 (55 kDa) without rigid soluble domains or binders.

    • Yafei Yuan
    • , Fang Kong
    •  & Chuangye Yan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Bacterial cell wall enzymes and their precursors are critical targets for antibiotic development. Here, the authors investigate several biosynthetic enzymes with their substrates and show that the passage of substrates and products in the pathway is controlled by their relative binding affinities.

    • Abraham O. Oluwole
    • , Robin A. Corey
    •  & Carol V. Robinson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In this manuscript, an electric-field-assisted self-assembly technique that can allow controllable and scalable fabrication of 3-dimensional block copolymer (BCP)-based artificial cell membranes (3DBCPMs) immobilized on predefined locations is presented.

    Topographically and chemically structured microwell array templates facilitate uniform patterning of BCPs and serve as reactors for the effective growth of 3DBCPMs, which diverse shapes, sizes and stability can be tuned by modulating the BCP concentration and the amplitude/frequency of the electric field.

    The potential of 3DBCPMs for a variety of biological applications is highlighted by performance of in vitro protein-membrane assays and mimicking of human intestinal organs.

    • Dong-Hyun Kang
    • , Won Bae Han
    •  & Tae Song Kim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    An increasing prevalence of Gram-negative bacteria increases the interest in nanotherapies to treat antibiotic resistance. Here, the authors examine the antimicrobial activity of polymyxin-loaded cubosomes and explore a polytherapy treatment of pathogens with cubosomes in combination with polymyxin.

    • Xiangfeng Lai
    • , Mei-Ling Han
    •  & Hsin-Hui Shen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Circularised nanodiscs (cNDs) are able to stabilise large lipid bilayer patches and are used for structural and functional studies. Current techniques to build cNDs have numerous steps and low yields; here the authors report a single step construction method using the SpyCatcher-SpyTag system.

    • Shanwen Zhang
    • , Qian Ren
    •  & Huan Bao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A variety of artificial cells springs from the functionalization of liposomes with proteins but these models suffer from low durability without repair and replenishment mechanisms. Here, the authors show that synthetic amphiphile membranes undergo SNARE-mediated fusion, and determine bending rigidity and pore edge tension as key parameters for fusion.

    • Lado Otrin
    • , Agata Witkowska
    •  & Tanja Vidaković-Koch

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The folding of outer membrane proteins (OMPs) is catalyzed by the βbarrel assembly machinery (BAM). Here, structural and functional analyses of BAM stabilized in distinct conformations elucidate the roles of lateral gate opening and interactions of BAM with the lipid bilayer in OMP assembly.

    • Paul White
    • , Samuel F. Haysom
    •  & Sheena E. Radford

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Gangliosides such as GM1 present in the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane of eukaryotic cells are essential for many cellular functions and pathogenic interactions. Here the authors show that the acyl chain structure of GM1 determines the establishment of nanodomains when actively clustered by actin, which depended on membrane cholesterol and phosphatidylserine or superimposed by the GM1-binding bacterial cholera toxin.

    • Senthil Arumugam
    • , Stefanie Schmieder
    •  & Ludger Johannes

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Proteins need to overcome energy barriers to induce intermediate steps in membrane fusion. Using lipid vesicles in which progression to hemifusion is arrested, the authors show that the metastable intermediate is enhanced by divalent cations and is characterized by the absence of proteins and local membrane thickening. Simulations reveal that thickening is induced by dehydration of the membrane surface.

    • Agata Witkowska
    • , Leonard P. Heinz
    •  & Reinhard Jahn

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cyanobacterial thylakoid membranes host the molecular machinery for the light-dependent reactions of photosynthesis and respiratory electron flow. Here, the authors show that newly synthesized thylakoids emerge between the plasma membrane and pre-existing thylakoids and describe the time-dependent assembly process of photosynthetic complexes.

    • Tuomas Huokko
    • , Tao Ni
    •  & Lu-Ning Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cytoskeletal networks support and direct cell shape and guide intercellular transport, but relatively little is understood about the self-organization of cytoskeletal components on the scale of an entire cell. Here, authors use an in vitro system and observe the assembly of different types of actin networks and the condensation of membrane-bound actin into single rings.

    • Thomas Litschel
    • , Charlotte F. Kelley
    •  & Petra Schwille

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The cytoplasm in mammalian cells is considered homogeneous. Here authors report that the cytoplasmic fluidity is regulated in the blebbing cells, which is regulated by calcium concentration in the expanding blebs and involves the STIM-Orai1 pathway.

    • Kana Aoki
    • , Shota Harada
    •  & Junichi Ikenouchi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The local lipid environment is known to affect the structure, stability and intercellular channel activity of gap junctions, however, the molecular basis for these effects remains unknown. Here authors report the CryoEM structure of Cx46/50 lipid-embedded channels, by which they reveal a lipid-induced stabilization to the channel.

    • Jonathan A. Flores
    • , Bassam G. Haddad
    •  & Steve L. Reichow

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The vacuolar-type H+ -ATPases (V-ATPase) hydrolyze ATP to pump protons across the plasma or intracellular membrane. Here authors report two cryo-EM structures of the intact V-ATPase from bovine brain with all the subunits including the subunit H, which is essential for ATPase activity.

    • Rong Wang
    • , Tao Long
    •  & Xiaochun Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    While membrane contact sites between intracellular organelles are abundant, little is known about the contacts between membranes that delimit extracellular junctions within cells, such as intracellular parasites. Here authors demonstrate the segregation of a lipid transporter from a solute transporter in the malarial host-parasite interface.

    • Matthias Garten
    • , Josh R. Beck
    •  & Joshua Zimmerberg

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