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The Structure of a Mycobacterial Outer-Membrane Channel

(2004) Science 303: 1189

• PubMed: 14976314 Search on PubMed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1094114
• Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
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• PubMed Abstract: 
  

  Mycobacteria have low-permeability outer membranes that render them resistant to most antibiotics. Hydrophilic nutrients can enter by way of transmembrane-channel proteins called porins. An x-ray analysis of the main porin from Mycobacterium smegmatis, MspA, revealed a homooctameric goblet-like conformation with a single central channel. This is the first structure of a mycobacterial outer-membrane protein. No structure-related protein was found in the Protein Data Bank. MspA contains two consecutive beta barrels with nonpolar outer surfaces that form a ribbon around the porin, which is too narrow to fit the thickness of the mycobacterial outer membrane in contemporary models.

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Organizational Affiliation: 

Institut für Organische Chemie und Biochemie, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, Albertstrasse 21, 79104 Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany.