The crystal structure of a sodium galactose transporter reveals mechanistic insights into Na+/sugar symport

Membrane transporters that use energy stored in sodium gradients to drive nutrients into cells constitute a major class of proteins. We report the crystal structure of a member of the solute sodium symporters (SSS), the Vibrio parahaemolyticus sodium/galactose symporter (vSGLT). The approximately 3.0 angstrom structure contains 14 transmembrane (TM) helices in an inward-facing conformation with a core structure of inverted repeats of 5 TM helices (TM2 to TM6 and TM7 to TM11). Galactose is bound in the center of the core, occluded from the outside solutions by hydrophobic residues. Surprisingly, the architecture of the core is similar to that of the leucine transporter (LeuT) from a different gene family. Modeling the outward-facing conformation based on the LeuT structure, in conjunction with biophysical data, provides insight into structural rearrangements for active transport.     

Retraction

Science is fully retracting the report "Detection of an infectious retrovirus, XMRV, in blood cells of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome" (V. C. Lombardi et al., Science 326, 585 (2009); 10.1126/science.1179052)     

植物促生菌及其促生机理 (续)

3 植物促生菌的促生长机理 3.1 产生嗜铁素 铁是生命的基本物质.不论是动、植物还是微生物,均需含铁蛋白来参与呼吸等一系列生理活动.尽管地球表面矿物含铁丰富,但土壤中能够直接为植物和微生物利用的铁却不多.土壤中铁主要以三价铁(Fe3+)状态存在,在pH值为7.4时其溶解度为10-18mol/L,此浓度下的铁一般无法满足土壤微生物繁衍和植物生长发育的需要.然而,某些细菌和植物分泌一种专门结合铁的小分子蛋白(siderophores)可从土壤中收集铁,这种物质被称之为嗜铁素.铁一旦与嗜铁素相结合则形成可溶性铁-嗜铁素复合体,并可通过植物和微生物细胞膜的特殊通道进入生物体内.氧化铁在体内还原后被释放并参与生物代谢活动.产生嗜铁素被认为是植物促生菌最主要的直接和间接促进植物生长的有效途径之一.植物促生菌产生的嗜铁素一般都具有高度的铁亲合性和专一性,含有各种能鳌合铁的结构基团(如邻二苯酚结构、羧基结构和乙二胺结构等)来摄取土壤中的铁,这种嗜铁素具有极强的吸收铁的能力,可在铁有效性极低时收集土壤中微量的移动性铁,从而使土壤中可用的铁降低至更为缺乏的程度.