@article{c67fa13a2e4a46d2a2a800dc1e01069b,
title = "Three-dimensional structure of the complexin/SNARE complex",
abstract = "During neurotransmitter release, the neuronal SNARE proteins synaptobrevin/VAMP, syntaxin, and SNAP-25 form a four-helix bundle, the SNARE complex, that pulls the synaptic vesicle and plasma membranes together possibly causing membrane fusion. Complexin binds tightly to the SNARE complex and is essential for efficient Ca2+-evoked neurotransmitter release. A combined X-ray and TROSY-based NMR study now reveals the atomic structure of the complexin/SNARE complex. Complexin binds in an antiparallel α-helical conformation to the groove between the synaptobrevin and syntaxin helices. This interaction stabilizes the interface between these two helices, which bears the repulsive forces between the apposed membranes. These results suggest that complexin stabilizes the fully assembled SNARE complex as a key step that enables the exquisitely high speed of Ca2+-evoked neurotransmitter release.",
author = "Xiaocheng Chen and Tomchick, {Diana R} and Evguenii Kovrigin and Demet Ara{\c c} and Mischa Machius and S{\"u}dhof, {Thomas C.} and Jose Rizo-Rey",
note = "Funding Information: We thank Tara Murphy for excellent technical assistance; Irina Dulubova for help in the preparation of expression vectors; Reinhard Jahn, Dirk Fasshauer, and Stefan Pabst for fruitful discussions and assistance in the procedures for SNARE complex assembly; Lewis Kay for providing pulse sequences; Ranjith Muhandiram for assistance in setting up NMR experiments; and Andrzej Joachimiak and the staff of the Structural Biology Center beamline (19 ID) at the Advanced Photon Source for assistance in X–ray data collection. Use of the Argonne National Laboratory Structural Biology Center beamlines at the Advanced Photon Source was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, under Contract No. W-31-109-ENG-38. This work was supported by an Established Investigator Grant from the American Heart Association and by NIH grant NS37200 (to J.R.). ",
year = "2002",
month = jan,
day = "31",
doi = "10.1016/S0896-6273(02)00583-4",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "33",
pages = "397--409",
journal = "Neuron",
issn = "0896-6273",
publisher = "Cell Press",
number = "3",
}