Molecular biology mystery unravelled

The nature of the machinery responsible for the entry of proteins into cell membranes has been unravelled by scientists, who hope the breakthrough could ultimately be exploited for the design of new anti-bacterial drugs. Groups of researchers from the University of Bristol and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) used new genetic engineering technologies to reconstruct and isolate the cell’s protein trafficking machinery.

Its analysis has shed new light on a process which had previously been a mystery for molecular biologists.

The findings, published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences(PNAS), could also have applications for synthetic biology – an emerging field of science and technology, for the development of novel membrane proteins with useful activities.

Proteins are the building blocks of all life and are essential for the growth of cells and tissue repair. The proteins in the membrane typically help the cell…