A unifying mechanism for protein transport through the core bacterial Sec machinery
Year: 2023
Type: review
Abstract: Encapsulation and compartmentalization are fundamental to the evolution of cellular life, but they also pose a challenge: how to partition the molecules that perform biological functions-the proteins-across impermeable barriers into sub-cellular organelles, and to the outside. The solution lies in the evolution of specialized machines, translocons, found in every biological membrane, which act both as gate and gatekeeper across and into membrane bilayers. Understanding how these translocons operate at the molecular level has been a long-standing ambition of cell biology, and one that is approaching its denouement; particularly in the case of the ubiquitous Sec system. In this review, we highlight the fruits of recent game-changing technical innovations in structural biology, biophysics and biochemistry to present a largely complete mechanism for the bacterial version of the core Sec machinery. We discuss the merits of our model over alternative proposals and identify the remaining open questions. The template laid out by the study of the Sec system will be of immense value for probing the many other translocons found in diverse biological membranes, towards the ultimate goal of altering or impeding their functions for pharmaceutical or biotechnological purposes.
Source: Open Biology
DOI: 10.1098/rsob.230166
Authors: William J. Allen, Ian Collinson
Institution: University of Bristol
Language: English
Subfield: Genetics
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,839
OpenAlex ID: W4386248168