Gandhi Chris S, Isacoff Ehud Y
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Caltech, Pasadena, CA 91101, USA.
Trends Neurosci. 2005 Sep;28(9):472-9. doi: 10.1016/j.tins.2005.07.005.
Membrane proteins are a cell's first line of communication with the world that exists just beyond the plasma membrane. These proteins afford the cell a peek at its external environment, signal the cell to adjust its internal chemistry in response to its surroundings, and ensure that the cell's metabolic state is faithfully coupled to the outside world. Because of their importance in cellular communication, membrane proteins have been the focus of intense study at the functional and structural levels. Here, we describe optical techniques that can either passively monitor or actively control the structural rearrangements that take place as these proteins peek at the outside world. Our focus is on ion channels, but the techniques described can be applied to a host of other proteins.
膜蛋白是细胞与质膜之外的外部世界进行交流的第一道防线。这些蛋白质使细胞能够窥探其外部环境，向细胞发出信号以根据周围环境调整其内部化学组成，并确保细胞的代谢状态与外部世界紧密相连。由于膜蛋白在细胞通讯中具有重要作用，因此在功能和结构层面一直是深入研究的焦点。在此，我们描述了一些光学技术，这些技术可以被动监测或主动控制这些蛋白质窥探外部世界时发生的结构重排。我们重点关注离子通道，但所描述的技术可应用于许多其他蛋白质。
