Solid‐State NMR Reveals Key Structural Features of Membrane Transport Proteins
SEP 01, 2000
With carefully chosen pulse sequences, practitioners of solid‐state NMR are closing in on a much‐sought prize in structural biology: the ability to unravel the molecular structure of membrane transport proteins.
DOI: 10.1063/1.1325226
Only small neutral molecules can pass unaided through cell membranes. Other kinds of particles—ions that mediate neural signaling, sugars that provide energy, amino acids that form proteins, and so on—enter and leave cells through specialized molecular portals known collectively as membrane transport proteins. To do their vital jobs, these proteins must recognize and grant passage, when required, to only one kind of molecule. And if getting that molecule into or out of a cell involves pushing against an electrical or concentration gradient, the transport protein has to marshal the necessary energy.
This article is only available in PDF format
© 2000 American Institute of Physics
