Electron crystallography of aquaporins

IUBMB Life. 2008 Jul;60(7):430-6. doi: 10.1002/iub.53.

Abstract

Aquaporins are a family of ubiquitous membrane proteins that form a pore for the permeation of water. Both electron and X-ray crystallography played major roles in determining the atomic structures of a number of aquaporins. This review focuses on electron crystallography, and its contribution to the field of aquaporin biology. We briefly discuss electron crystallography and the two-dimensional crystallization process. We describe features of aquaporins common to both electron and X-ray crystallographic structures; as well as some structural insights unique to electron crystallography, including aquaporin junction formation and lipid-protein interactions.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Aquaporins / chemistry*
  • Cell Membrane / metabolism
  • Crystallization
  • Crystallography / methods
  • Crystallography, X-Ray / methods*
  • Electrons
  • Humans
  • Lipids / chemistry
  • Models, Molecular
  • Protein Conformation
  • Protein Folding
  • Proteins / chemistry
  • Water / chemistry

Substances

  • Aquaporins
  • Lipids
  • Proteins
  • Water