{"title":"The Functionality of Membrane-Inserting Proteins and Peptides: Curvature Sensing, Generation, and Pore Formation.","authors":"Chandra Has, Sovan Lal Das","doi":"10.1007/s00232-023-00289-7","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Proteins and peptides with hydrophobic and amphiphilic segments are responsible for many biological functions. The sensing and generation of membrane curvature are the functions of several protein domains or motifs. While some specific membrane proteins play an essential role in controlling the curvature of distinct intracellular membranes, others participate in various cellular processes such as clathrin-mediated endocytosis, where several proteins sort themselves at the neck of the membrane bud. A few membrane-inserting proteins form nanopores that permeate selective ions and water to cross the membrane. In addition, many natural and synthetic small peptides and protein toxins disrupt the membrane by inducing nonspecific pores in the membrane. The pore formation causes cell death through the uncontrolled exchange between interior and exterior cellular contents. In this article, we discuss the insertion depth and orientation of protein/peptide helices, and their role as a sensor and inducer of membrane curvature as well as a pore former in the membrane. We anticipate that this extensive review will assist biophysicists to gain insight into curvature sensing, generation, and pore formation by membrane insertion.</p>","PeriodicalId":50129,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Membrane Biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Membrane Biology","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00232-023-00289-7","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2023/8/31 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Proteins and peptides with hydrophobic and amphiphilic segments are responsible for many biological functions. The sensing and generation of membrane curvature are the functions of several protein domains or motifs. While some specific membrane proteins play an essential role in controlling the curvature of distinct intracellular membranes, others participate in various cellular processes such as clathrin-mediated endocytosis, where several proteins sort themselves at the neck of the membrane bud. A few membrane-inserting proteins form nanopores that permeate selective ions and water to cross the membrane. In addition, many natural and synthetic small peptides and protein toxins disrupt the membrane by inducing nonspecific pores in the membrane. The pore formation causes cell death through the uncontrolled exchange between interior and exterior cellular contents. In this article, we discuss the insertion depth and orientation of protein/peptide helices, and their role as a sensor and inducer of membrane curvature as well as a pore former in the membrane. We anticipate that this extensive review will assist biophysicists to gain insight into curvature sensing, generation, and pore formation by membrane insertion.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Membrane Biology is dedicated to publishing high-quality science related to membrane biology, biochemistry and biophysics. In particular, we welcome work that uses modern experimental or computational methods including but not limited to those with microscopy, diffraction, NMR, computer simulations, or biochemistry aimed at membrane associated or membrane embedded proteins or model membrane systems. These methods might be applied to study topics like membrane protein structure and function, membrane mediated or controlled signaling mechanisms, cell-cell communication via gap junctions, the behavior of proteins and lipids based on monolayer or bilayer systems, or genetic and regulatory mechanisms controlling membrane function.
Research articles, short communications and reviews are all welcome. We also encourage authors to consider publishing ''negative'' results where experiments or simulations were well performed, but resulted in unusual or unexpected outcomes without obvious explanations.
While we welcome connections to clinical studies, submissions that are primarily clinical in nature or that fail to make connections to the basic science issues of membrane structure, chemistry and function, are not appropriate for the journal. In a similar way, studies that are primarily descriptive and narratives of assays in a clinical or population study are best published in other journals. If you are not certain, it is entirely appropriate to write to us to inquire if your study is a good fit for the journal.