The Bam complex catalyzes efficient insertion of bacterial outer membrane proteins into membrane vesicles of variable lipid composition.

ABSTRACT: Most proteins that reside in the bacterial outer membrane (OM) have a distinctive "β-barrel" architecture, but the assembly of these proteins is poorly understood. The spontaneous assembly of OM proteins (OMPs) into pure lipid vesicles has been studied extensively but often requires non-physiological conditions and time scales and is strongly influenced by properties of the lipid bilayer, including surface charge, thickness, and fluidity. Furthermore, the membrane insertion of OMPs in vivo is catalyzed by a heterooligomer called the β-barrel assembly machinery (Bam) complex. To determine the role of lipids in the assembly of OMPs under more physiological conditions, we exploited an assay in which the Bam complex mediates their insertion into membrane vesicles. A

SUBMITTER: Hussain S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5827433 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature