Membrane protein

proteins that are part of, or interact with, biological membranes

A membrane protein is a protein molecule that is attached to, or associated with the membrane of a cell or an organelle.

Crystal structure of Potassium channel Kv1.2/2.1 Chimera. Calculated hydrocarbon boundaries of the lipid bilayer are indicated by red and blue dots.

20–30% of all genes in genomes code for membrane proteins.[1] They are targets of over 50% of all modern medicinal drugs.[2]

Function

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Membrane proteins perform a variety of functions vital to the survival of organisms:[3]

  • Membrane receptor proteins relay signals between the cell's internal and external environments.
  • Membrane transport proteins move molecules and ions across the membrane.
  • Membrane enzymes have many activities.
  • Cell adhesion molecules allow cells to identify each other and interact. For example, proteins involved in immune response.
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References

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  1. Krogh A. et al 2001. Predicting transmembrane protein topology with a hidden markov model: application to complete genomes. Journal of Molecular Biology 305 (3): 567–580. [1]
  2. Overington J.P; Al-Lazikani B & Hopkins A.L. (2006). "How many drug targets are there?". Nat Rev Drug Discov. 5 (12): 993–6. doi:10.1038/nrd2199. PMID 17139284. S2CID 11979420.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. Almén M. et al 2009. Mapping the human membrane proteome: a majority of the human membrane proteins can be classified according to function and evolutionary origin. BMC Biology 7: 50. [2]

Other websites

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