Membrane chaperoning by members of the PspA/IM30 protein family

• Main Authors: Adrien Thurotte, Thomas Brüser, Thorsten Mascher, Dirk Schneider
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2017-01-01
• Series: Communicative & Integrative Biology
• Subjects: IM30; LiaH; membrane chaperone; membrane stress; oligomer; PspA; PspA/IM30 family; Vipp1; YjfJ
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19420889.2016.1264546

PspA, IM30 (Vipp1) and LiaH, which all belong to the PspA/IM30 protein family, form high molecular weight oligomeric structures. For all proteins membrane binding and protection of the membrane structure and integrity has been shown or postulated. Here we discuss the possible membrane chaperoning activity of PspA, IM30 and LiaH and propose that larger oligomeric structures bind to stressed membrane regions, followed by oligomer disassembly and membrane stabilization by protein monomers or smaller/different oligomeric scaffolds.