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A team of scientists led by Dr. Senna Corbalán of the Biomembrane Group of the University of Murcia (UMU) and Nuria Verdaguer of the Institute of Molecular Biology of Barcelona have performed studies at the atomic and biochemical level that demonstrate the mechanism of double interaction Of a protein with the surface of the membrane and, at the same time, with other proteins located in that zone.
These results allow us to propose a model to explain how the arrival of calcium would lead to the destabilization of the membrane and the opening of a pore that would allow the release of neurotransmitters or hormones that would thus continue the process of communication between cells.
The study has been published this week in the journal Proceedings or the National Academy of Sciences-USA (http://pnas.org/content/114/27/E5343.long), and it represents a very important conceptual advance to explain The mechanisms of control of the different membrane fusion processes involving these proteins and their homologues.
The fusion of membranes is a key cellular process, and serves for the proper functioning of the nervous or endocrine systems, among many other functions.
This mechanism allows communication between cells, and is made up of a set of proteins that are organized in a highly accurate way to be able to execute the different signals that these cells receive.
Some of the less well known aspects of this system are the recognition mechanisms at the surface of the membrane and how intracellular calcium is able to trigger these fusion processes.
Source: Universidad de Murcia
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