The multidisciplinary team also included scientists from the Ruhr University Bochum (cluster of excellence RESOLV) and the University of Osnabrück, Germany,and the University of Southampton, U.K. coli cells, two nanobodies target the desired membrane protein on the inner membrane of the cell and attach to it,’’ Seeger said. The scientists have artificially produced specific nanobodies for a membrane transporter and use them to directly report on its structure. ‘‘These are fragments of antibodies that are able to recognize and bind to a specific target, such as an antigen or in our case, a membrane transporter, in a very efficient way,’’ Bordignon said. To achieve this, the research team relied on a specific tool nanobodies. Seeger, associate professor at the Institute for Medical Microbiology at the UZH, has developed a new method for studying membrane proteins in action in living cells in the inner cell membranes of the intestinal bacterium E. A new methodĪ team led by Enrica Bordignon, full professor in the Department of Physical Chemistry at the UNIGE Faculty of Science, in collaboration with Markus A. Proteins outside their native environment might show different structural properties, therefore misleading drug development. These strategies remove them from their physiological environment and do not allow their functioning to be observed in situ. They can also be inserted into artificial membranes called nanodiscs, made of proteins and lipids, or in pure lipidic membranes. They must be maintained in liquid solutions composed of detergents. Once extracted, membrane proteins cannot be studied in aqueous solutions. To characterize them, scientists must extract these proteins from the cell membrane in which they are found and isolate them from all other proteins. The biophysical study of their structure – the spatial organization of the constituent amino acids – is essential. As a result, membrane proteins represent more than 60% of current drug targets. in the communication system of cells that allows them to coordinate their metabolic processes, development and organization. Located at the interface between the outside and inside of the cell, they carry various substances across the membrane – into or out of the cell – and play a crucial role in cell signaling, i.e. ![]() The proteins attached to this membrane are called membrane proteins. ![]() ![]() It separates the contents of the cell from its direct environment and regulates the substances that can enter or leave the cell. This membrane consists of a double layer of lipids. In living organisms, each cell is surrounded by a cell membrane (or cytoplasmic membrane). The results, published in the journal Science Advances, may facilitate future development of new drugs. The technique is based on electron spin resonance spectroscopy. A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) in Switzerland, in collaboration with the University of Zurich (UZH), has developed an innovative method to study their structure in their native environment: the cell. Yet, extracting and storing them for observation is particularly complex. Some of them, called transporters, move certain substances in and out of the cellular environment. Membrane proteins are key targets for many drugs.
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