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Article: Protein-hungry cells "go fishing," report Purdue biologists.
- Article from:
- Biotech Week
- Article date:
- December 17, 2003
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2003 DEC 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- When a cell needs a protein to function, it sometimes uses molecule-sized fishing poles to "catch" one and "cast" it across the cell membrane, reports a research team of Purdue University biologists.
Using high-resolution X-ray crystallography, a team including William A. Cramer has determined the structure and surprising behavior of a protein receptor complex, or "gate," found in the outer membrane of an E. coli bacterium. The complex is one of thousands of such tiny gates that the cell uses to bring substances into its cytoplasm, or interior. The team also determined the structure of one such substance, a protein ...