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Publication Abstract from PubMed

The integration of most membrane proteins into the cytoplasmic membrane of bacteria occurs co-translationally. The universally conserved YidC protein mediates this process either individually as a membrane protein insertase, or in concert with the SecY complex. Here, we present a structural model of YidC based on evolutionary co-variation analysis, lipid-versus-protein-exposure and molecular dynamics simulations. The model suggests a distinctive arrangement of the conserved five transmembrane domains and a helical hairpin between transmembrane segment 2 (TM2) and TM3 on the cytoplasmic membrane surface. The model was used for docking into a cryo-electron microscopy reconstruction of a translating YidC-ribosome complex carrying the YidC substrate FOc. This structure reveals how a single copy of YidC interacts with the ribosome at the ribosomal tunnel exit and identifies a site for membrane protein insertion at the YidC protein-lipid interface. Together, these data suggest a mechanism for the co-translational mode of YidC-mediated membrane protein insertion.

A structural model of the active ribosome-bound membrane protein insertase YidC.,Wickles S, Singharoy A, Andreani J, Seemayer S, Bischoff L, Berninghausen O, Soeding J, Schulten K, van der Sluis EO, Beckmann R Elife (Cambridge). 2014 Jul 10:e03035. doi: 10.7554/eLife.03035. PMID:25012291^[1]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.