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Crystal structure of the endosomal SNARE complex reveals common structural principles of all SNAREs

Nature Structural Biology volume 9, pages 107–111 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

SNARE proteins are crucial for intracellular membrane fusion in all eukaryotes. These proteins assemble into tight complexes that connect membranes and may induce fusion. The crystal structure of the neuronal core complex is represented by an unusually long bundle of four α-helices connected by 16 layers of mostly hydrophobic amino acids. Here we report the 1.9 Å resolution crystal structure of an endosomal SNARE core complex containing four SNAREs: syntaxin 7, syntaxin 8, vti1b and endobrevin/VAMP-8. Despite limited sequence homology, the helix alignment and the layer structure of the endosomal complex are remarkably similar to those of the neuronal complex. However, subtle variations are evident that characterize different SNARE subfamilies. We conclude that the structure of the SNARE core complex is an evolutionarily conserved hallmark of all SNARE complexes and is intimately associated with the general role of SNAREs in membrane fusion.

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Figure 1: Sequence alignment of the fragments in the neuronal SNARE complex (top lines) and the endosomal SNARE complex (bottom lines).
Figure 2: Overall structure of the endosomal core complex.
Figure 3: Intra- and intermolecular interactions.
Figure 4: Structural conservation of layers.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and from the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie. We thank G. Fischer von Mollard, G. Sharp and S. Pabst for critically reading the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurobiology and Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Fassberg 11, Göttingen, 37077, Germany

    Wolfram Antonin, Dirk Fasshauer & Reinhard Jahn

  2. NMR-based Structural Biology, Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Fassberg 11, Göttingen, 37077, Germany

    Stefan Becker

  3. Department of Structural Chemistry, University of Göttingen, Tammannstrasse 4, Göttingen, 37077, Germany

    Thomas R. Schneider

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  1. Wolfram Antonin
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Correspondence to Reinhard Jahn.

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Antonin, W., Fasshauer, D., Becker, S. et al. Crystal structure of the endosomal SNARE complex reveals common structural principles of all SNAREs. Nat Struct Mol Biol 9, 107–111 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nsb746

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