SecA: Difference between revisions

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FIGURE**** http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v455/n7215/images/nature07335-f1.2.jpg
FIGURE**** http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v455/n7215/images/nature07335-f1.2.jpg
==Function==
==Function==
[http://journal.shouxi.net/qikan/article.php?id=418668 SecA] SecA interacts not only with the SecY channel (8) but also with acidic phospholipids (9-11) and with both the signal sequence and the mature part of a substrate protein (12). It also binds the chaperone SecB, which ushers some precursor proteins to SecA (8, 13, 14). When associated with the SecY complex, SecA undergoes repeated cycles of ATP-dependent conformational changes, which are linked to the movement of successive segments of a polypeptide chain through the channel (15, 16). However the mechanism employed by SecA to translocate substrates polypeptide chains through the SecY channel remains largely unknown.
[http://journal.shouxi.net/qikan/article.php?id=418668 SecA] SecA interacts not only with the SecY channel (8) but also with acidic phospholipids (9-11) and with both the signal sequence and the mature part of a substrate protein (12). It also binds the chaperone SecB, which ushers some precursor proteins to SecA (8, 13, 14). When associated with the SecY complex, SecA undergoes repeated cycles of ATP-dependent conformational changes, which are linked to the movement of successive segments of a polypeptide chain through the channel (15, 16). However the mechanism employed by SecA to translocate substrates polypeptide chains through the SecY channel remains largely unknown.
An important issue concerning the function of SecA is its oligomeric state during translocation. SecA is a dimer in solution (17, 18), and previous work argued that this is its functional state (19). An x-ray structure of Bacillus subtilis SecA also indicates the existence of a dimer (7). However, recent evidence raises the possibility that SecA might actually function as a monomer; in solution, SecA dimers are in rapid equilibrium with monomers (20, 21). Although the equilibrium favors dimers, it is shifted almost completely toward monomers in the presence of membranes containing acidic phospholipids or upon binding to the SecY complex (21). A synthetic signal peptide had a similar effect, although this result is controversial (22). A monomeric derivative of SecA containing six point mutations retained some in vitro translocation activity (21), but the low level of translocation precluded any firm conclusion. In addition, the previous results do not exclude models in which SecA cycles between monomeric and oligomeric states during the translocation of a polypeptide chain (22, 23). Most importantly, the functional oligomeric state of SecA in vivo remains to be established. http://journal.shouxi.net/qikan/article.php?id=418668
An important issue concerning the function of SecA is its oligomeric state during translocation. SecA is a dimer in solution (17, 18), and previous work argued that this is its functional state (19). An x-ray structure of Bacillus subtilis SecA also indicates the existence of a dimer (7). However, recent evidence raises the possibility that SecA might actually function as a monomer; in solution, SecA dimers are in rapid equilibrium with monomers (20, 21). Although the equilibrium favors dimers, it is shifted almost completely toward monomers in the presence of membranes containing acidic phospholipids or upon binding to the SecY complex (21). A synthetic signal peptide had a similar effect, although this result is controversial (22). A monomeric derivative of SecA containing six point mutations retained some in vitro translocation activity (21), but the low level of translocation precluded any firm conclusion. In addition, the previous results do not exclude models in which SecA cycles between monomeric and oligomeric states during the translocation of a polypeptide chain (22, 23). Most importantly, the functional oligomeric state of SecA in vivo remains to be established. http://journal.shouxi.net/qikan/article.php?id=418668