Fusion of Cells by Flipped SNAREs

作者：Chuan Hu, Mahiuddin Ahmed, Thomas James Melia, Thomas H. Söllner, Thomas U. Mayer, James Edward Rothman · 发表于：Science · 年份：2003 · DOI：10.1126/science.1084909 · 被引用次数：251 · 研究领域：Cellular transport and secretion、Lipid Membrane Structure and Behavior、Receptor Mechanisms and Signaling

The SNARE (soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor) hypothesis suggests that pairs of proteins known as vesicle (v-) SNAREs and target membrane (t-) SNAREs interact specifically to control and mediate intracellular membrane fusion events. Here, cells expressing the interacting domains of v- and t-SNAREs on the cell surface were found to fuse spontaneously, demonstrating that SNAREs are sufficient to fuse biological membranes.