Structure of a nascent membrane protein as it folds on the BAM complex.

ABSTRACT: Mitochondria, chloroplasts and Gram-negative bacteria are encased in a double layer of membranes. The outer membrane contains proteins with a β-barrel structure^1,2. β-Barrels are sheets of β-strands wrapped into a cylinder, in which the first strand is hydrogen-bonded to the final strand. Conserved multi-subunit molecular machines fold and insert these proteins into the outer membrane^3-5. One subunit of the machines is itself a β-barrel protein that has a central role in folding other β-barrels. In Gram-negative bacteria, the β-barrel assembly machine (BAM) consists of the β-barrel protein BamA, and four lipoproteins^5-8. To understand how the BAM complex accelerates folding without using exogenous energy (for example, ATP)⁹, we trapped folding in

SUBMITTER: Tomasek D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7367713 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature