The social life of a membrane protein; It's complex

Sammanfattning: Membrane proteins are key players in many biological processes. Since most membrane proteins are assembled into oligomeric complexes it is important to understand how they interact with each other. Unfortunately however, the assembly process (i.e. their social life) remains poorly understood. In the work presented in this thesis I have investigated when and how membrane proteins assemble with each other and their cofactors to form functional units. We have shown that that cofactor insertion in the hetero-tetrameric cytochrome bo3 occurs at an early state in the assembly process. We also found that the pentameric CorA magnesium ion channel is stabilised by different interactions depending on the magnesium ion concentration in the cell. These studies indicate that the assembly of a functional unit is a dynamic process, which is a result of many different forces. By studying the assembly of membrane proteins we have obtained a deeper insight into their function, which cannot be explained by static crystal structures.