Open AccessMunc13 structural transitions and oligomers that may choreograph successive stages in vesicle priming for neurotransmitter release
Author(s) -
Kirill Grushin,
Ramalingam Venkat Kalyana Sundaram,
Charles V. Sindelar,
James E. Rothman
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2121259119
Subject(s) - random hexamer , vesicle , chemistry , biophysics , bilayer , synaptic vesicle , crystallography , transmembrane protein , stereochemistry , membrane , biochemistry , biology , receptor
Significance The speed of neural information processing in the human central nervous system is ultimately determined by the speed of chemical transmission at synapses, because action potentials have relatively short distances to traverse. The release of synaptic vesicles containing neurotransmitters must therefore be remarkably fast as compared to other forms of membrane fusion. Six separate SNARE complexes cooperate to achieve this. But how can exactly six copies be assembled under every vesicle? Here we report that six copies of the key molecular chaperone that assembles the SNAREs can arrange themselves into a closed hexagon, providing the likely answer.