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How large, fully folded proteins can pass through cell membranes without destroying them has long been one of the open questions in cell biology. Using cryo-electron microscopy (cryo‑EM), Leonid Sazanov and Ziyu Zhao at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) have now uncovered new details about a molecular “gate.” Their findings were published in Molecular Cell.
Back in school, we all learned the central dogma of biology: DNA makes RNA, and RNA makes protein. These proteins perform countless vital functions in the body—but to do so, they often need to travel to other locations within the cell and cross membranes.
Professor Leonid Sazanov and postdoctoral researcher Ziyu Zhao at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) have now shown how the Tat system (twin‑arginine translocase) transports bulky proteins across membranes.
The mysterious Tat system
