Researchers get a first look at the mechanics of membrane proteins

In two new studies, researchers provide the first detailed view of the elaborate chemical and mechanical interactions that allow the ribosome -- the cell's protein-building machinery -- to insert a growing protein into the cellular membrane. The first study gives an atom-by-atom snapshot the moment just after the ribosome docks to a channel in the membrane and the newly forming protein winds its way into the membrane. The second study found that proteins get inserted into the membrane in two stages.

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